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UNITED STATES OF AMEEICA. 




/&»9 ^Ar-^V 4 W/n?^ 



THE 



YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S GUIDE. 



BY CHARLES BUCK. 



WITH AN 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 



BY T. T.'WATERMAN; 

PASTOR OF THE RICHMOND-ST. CHURCH, PROVIDENCE. 



He shall feed his flock like a shepherd ; he shall gather the lambs with hit 
arms, and carry them in his bosom.— Isaiah. 




PROVIDENCE: 
WEEDEN AND CORY. 

1834. 



J 4S3\ 



( ssA 



1* 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the t year One Thousand Eight Hu 
dred and Thirty-Four, 
BY WEEDEN AND CORY, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Rhode-Island. 






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I 



CONTENTS. 



Introductory Essay. 
Preface. 

chapter i.— directions as to doctrines. 
Religion of importance. — Doctrines the foundation of 
religion.— Decision as to doctrines necessary. — Doc- 
trines stated. — To be studied in their connexion and 
dependency. — Establishment in them. — Earnestly to 
be defended. — The more mysterious to be examined 
with caution. 

CHAPTER II.— DIRECTIONS RELATIVE TO EXPERIENCE. 

Religion not speculative. — Experience explained and 
defended. — Particular experiences — How abused — 
Not to be depended on — To be reviewed. — Admi- 
ration of God's goodness. 

CHAPTER III.— DIRECTIONS RELATIVE TO PRACTICE. 

Holy practice the result of just principles. — Retirement. — 
Meditation. — Self-examination. — Prayer, ejaculatory, 
closet, family and social. — Rules for understanding 
the scriptures. — Advice as to reading human authors. 

CHAPTER IV.— DIRECTIONS RELATIVE TO PRACTICE. 

Public Worship — The Sabbath. Ministers. — Direc- 
tions for hearing profitably. — Punctuality in attending 
ordinances. — Joining a church. — The Lord's Supper 
— Objections to receiving it ans \ ered. — Advice to 
church members. — Faith and patience. — Diligence 
in temporal and spiritual concerns, — Rules for the 
improvement of time. 

A2 



IV 



C O N 1 fc S T S. 



CHAPTER V.— DIRECTIONS RELATIVE TO PRACTICE. 

Zeal inculcated. — -Steadfastness. — Order. — Conscien- 
tiousness. — Leadings of Providence. — Restitution. — 
Uniform Obedience. — Usefulness. — Joy. — Gratitude. 

CHAPTER VI— CAUTIONS. 

Cautions as to pride. — Volatility. — Loquacity. For- 
wardness. Forming connexions. Marriage. — Un- 
happy partners, and conduct towards them. 

chapter vii.— cautions. 
Cautions as to novelty- — Vain curiosity. — Captiousness. 
Disputation. — Anger. — Discontent. — Bigotry. 

CHAPTER VIII.— CAUTIONS. 

Cautions as to a worldly spirit. — Fashions. — Customs. 
—Dress. — Recreations. — Imprudence. — Un watchful- 
ness. — Spiritual declension. 

CHAPTER IX.-.DISCOURAGF.MENTS CONSIDERED. 

Discouragements to be expected — Sin a source of sor- 
row — Excpssive grief improper. — Despondency, rea- 
sons against. — Vain thoughts common to the best. — 
Awful scriptures explained. — Unpardonable sin stated. 
— Small degree of knowledge and meanness of tal- 
ents, no ground for dejection. — Satan's insinuations, 
consolations against. — Persecution an honor. — Vari- 
ety of opinions and preachers not to be considered 
strange. — Conduct of so me professors discouraging. — 
Apostates, lessons to be learnt from. — Desertion. — 
Fear of death. 

CHAPTER X.— YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S ENCOURAGEMENT. 

Encouragement from the promises. — Examples. — Evi- 
dences of grace. — Prospects. — Eternal life. — Conclu- 
ding address to the unconverted. 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, 



RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 

It is a melancholy truth, that very vague and erro- 
neous views prevail on this amazingly interesting and 
important subject. There can be no doubt, from what 
is seen, heard and known, that many, very many who 
profess to have "experienced religion," are deceived. 
Thousands there are in Christendom, and numbers in 
every city, town and village, who profess to belong to 
God, and yet live as if God had no claim either to 
their souls or their bodies— as if they were first to suit 
their own convenience, and gratify their own taste; 
and then, if they have time and inclination, and noth^ 
ing occurs to prevent, to look after the interests of truth 
and duty; — consecrated to self, is by practice written 
in glaring capitals upon their time, talents, influence, 
attainments, friendships, business, pleasures, posses- 
sions, and all. Amid the brightest displays of truth, 
and the most heart-thrilling appeals for help on the 
walls of Zion; and even amid the breathings of the 
Holy Spirit, and the tears of the convicted and broken-, 
hearted, their hearts go after their idols. They have 
little to say, and less to do, to gave souls and glorify 
a3 



VI RELHHOUS EXPERIENCE. 

God. The closet witnesses but seldom, if ever, to 
their tears and prayers. The family altar has never 
been erected; or if erected, has been thrown down. — 
The Bible is cast aside, except for an occasional con- 
science-quieting glance. The weekly prayer meeting 
is forsaken, its place being occupied by worldly care, 
by amusement, or by attendance upon the fashionable 
party. The sanctuary is a place of display, of greeting, 
of smiles, simpering looks, whispering, criticism, and 
especially of sleep. The world is courted, applauded 
and followed. Impenitent husbands, wives, parents, 
children, friends, are unwarned, unwept over, unprayed 
with; and all, all, though there be the external profes- 
sion, though there be the form in full stature, and though 
they come to the table of dying love, and talk of heav- 
en, still all proclaims that they seek their own — that 
they are enemies of God — that their religious experi- 
ence is false. 

What mighty obstacles in the way of Zion*s advance! 
what dead weights upon the wheels of the car of salva- 
tion! How they counteract, in word, and deed, the 
blessings of a preached gospel, and the influence of the 
church! What stumbling blocks in the sinner's path 
to hell! True the world may smile and flatter— calling 
them social, agreeable, intellectual, liberal and genteel 
christians. But, alas, how certain and how fearful their 
deception; — and come that deception from what source 
it may, it will dishonor God — weaken the church — and 
kill the soul. 

And others, there are, who, appearing more devoted 
and more spiritually minded, seem nevertheless to seek, 
with as much zeal, though in a different form, their 



RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. Vll 

own semes. They are active, if they can be in their 
own way, and according to their own forms, and for 
their own favorite objects. They labor, and give, and 
talk, but for their own sect, and because it is their sect. 
They are anxious for converts, not so much that Christ 
may be honored, truth loved, and duty done, as that 
their numbers may be increased, and their rites, and 
ceremonies honored, commended and sounded forth, as 
the most engaging, and most fashionable. Their con- 
versation is not concerning God and his perfection, love 
and glory — but concerning this minister and that minis- 
ter; this person or that person, who is to join them. — 
They prefer flattery to reproof; and conscious how they 
themselves are flattered and puffed up, and thus led 
away, they use their enchantments upon the weak 
around them. They feel not for any cause, no matter 
how loud the demand for effort, if the cause be not pop- 
ular. Their anxiety is not so much for holiness as for 
comfort; not so much for duty, as for hope. All such, 
if not fatally deceived, are greatly mistaken as to the 
nature of true religious experience. They are in dark- 
ness, and must be brought to the light; or if saved, will 
be saved as by fire. " Not every one that saith Lord, 
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he 
that doeth the will of my father who is in Heaven." 

We may mistake the nature of religious experience. 
Conviction may be taken for conversiBn; animal feel- 
ing for a clear perception of truth; agitation of the 
nerves for brokenness of heart; a desire of happiness 
for a desire of holiness; knowledge of duty for the 
heartfelt approval of it; love of self for the love of God. 
How important, then, is a test, a searching, discrimi- 
e4 



Vlll RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 

nating test, of true religious experience; a test which 
will show the kind and degree, as well as the fact of 
our conversion! Such a test is found, we believ*, in 
the sentiment of the Apostle James: — " Submit your- 
selves therefore to God." 

This sentiment may be illustrated and enforced, by 
considering what is implied in the submission required, 
and the reasonableness of such submission. 

I. Submission is an act by which a subject de- 
livers himself to the authority and will of his sove- 
reign. — It presupposes revolt, or a state of mind and 
heart, in which the authority and government of the 
sovereign have been disowned and set at defiance. By 
this submission, the once rebellious, but now penitent 
and broken-hearted subject, owns and loves the suprem- 
acy of his God. It is a change in which the heart turns 
from rebellion to obedience; from contemning God to 
loving him supremely. In this submission, the change 
is in the heart; the subject of it has new affections, new 
purposes, and new conduct in regard to God, his gov- 
ernment and glory. He takes part with God against 
himself and his sins. He says, and rejoices to say, 
God is right and I am wrong — God is holy and I am 
vile — God is good and glorious, and I am unworthy 
and guilty. 

u Here, on my heart, the burden lies, 
And past offences pain mine eyes ; 
My lips with shame my sins confess, 
Against thy law, against thy grace; 
An*l if my soul were sent to hell, 
Thy righteous law approves it well." 

True submission is a heart-felt approval of God 
in his true character. — The subject receivee God as 
he is, with all his knowledge, wisdom, truth, justice, 



R F. t T G IOCS E X P K R I E N CE. IX 

goodness and holiness; he loves God for what and in 
all that he is and does. The true penitent does not 
adapt God's character and perfections to his own selfish 
and depraved inclinations; he does not make God what 
in his rebellion he would have him, and then submit; — 
but he brings his heart up to God's character, as it is 
seen in all its revealed majesty and glory. He makes 
God in his submission, what God has made himself in 
his Word, infinitely holy, just and good. He loves God 
as much because he is just, as because he is good; he- 
cause he can punish, as because he can bless. In all 
things the language of submission is, st The Lord 
reign eth — let the earth rejoice." 

True submission is also a heart-felt approval of 
the law of God. — This law, viewed as the will of 
God, is, to the true concert, right, good and holy. — 
The precept, in all the reach of its application, appears 
glorious; requiring neither too much nor too little. — 
The command, thou shait love the Lord thy God with 
all thine heart, and thy neighbor as thyself, is embraced 
as surpassingly precious; it seems a privilege to obey 
it; and all the soul desires, is to feel its full and unqual- 
ified power He sees and feels it to be right that every 
bein« should do what the law requires, and not do what 
it prohibits. He sees that it is right and good that it 
be sustained by the penalty of eternal death. This 
penalty, as manifesting God's regard to his law, and to 
the good of the universe, and to the honor of his throne, 
appears lovely and glorious He would alter neither 
precept nor penalty; he submits to both as right and 
good; he wishes to hear of no mitigation of the law; 
no repeal of its claims to perfect and constant obedi- 
A > 



X RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 

ence. To this law, as justly condemning him and all 
its guilty violaters to eternal death, he submits; and 
says, in view of himself and of others, let the law be 
sustained, and the government honored. His language 
is, " Thy law do I love — I shall not be ashamed when 
I have respect unto all thy commandments.' ' 

True submission is also a heart-felt approval 
and acknowledgment of the plan of salvation by 
atoning blood. — As guilty and deserving death at the 
hands of the law, the true convert sees and feels that if 
saved, he must be saved by grace; by free sovereign 
grace. To such grace, as revealed by the cross of 
Christ, he cheerfully and joyfully submits. He submits 
to the truth that Jesus Christ, as God manifest in the 
flesh, has, by his death, made an expression of God's 
regard to his law, and to his government, equivalent to 
the infliction of the penalty upon the transgressor. In 
this sacrifice, he sees that God is just to himself and his 
law; while, on condition of repentance and faith, he 
remits the penalty, and saves the sinner. He submit! 
to Jesus Christ, not merely as having died to save him 
or others, but as he died to magnify the law; to sustain 
.and vindicate God r s justice and glory. He submits to 
Jesus Christ in the fulness of his godhead, as God with 
us; as equal with the Father; he submits to be washed 
in his precious blood, and to be kept and saved through 
his intercession; he submits, in a word, to the whole 
gospel scheme. To the great fact that the world is 
lost, that all are by nature supremely selfish, or totally 
depraved, and under sentence of death; that every in- 
dividual must be born again; must have a new heart; 
must repent or perish ; that the Holy Spirit, by a sore- 



RELIGIOUS EXPERIEN CE. XI 

reign, gracious, and special influence, calls, and re- 
news, and sanctifies, and keeps us. To this whole 
scheme of wonder and love, as it opens more and more 
to his understanding, his heart says, it is good, it is glo- 
rious; his language is, "God forbid that I should glory, 
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

True submission , is, moreover, a heart-felt ap- 
proval of the glory of God, as the chief end of be- 
ing. — Submission to God, is making God and his glory 
first and last; the all in all. The subject gives himself, 
and all he is, and has, and hopes to be, to the great 
work of obeying and glorifying God. His object is, 
not merely to be saved, but to be holy; not merely to 
be happy, but to be happy in doing right, Happiness 
he regards as the consequence of holiness or obedience, 
not the cause. He is grieved at rebellion, and hates 
sin, because opposed to God; he desires to have all men 
know, and love, and obey the living and true God. To 
this great end, even the glory of God, and the good of 
the universe, he submits to live; and for this he submits, 
if need be, to die. Holiness to the Lord, is the seal 
which he sets upon his time, talents, attainments, 
friendships, business, pleasures, and his all. 'Conse- 
crated to the interests of God's eternal government, ' 
he writes upon soul and body, and casts them at the 
feet of Jesus. His prayer, urged in secret and in pub- 
lic, in thought, word and deed, is, u Thy kingdom 
come." His language is, " Whether ye eat or drink, 
or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 

This submission, as it embraces these great and gen- 
eral principles, has several distinct and important char- 
acteristics. 

a6 



Xll RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 

True submission is intelligent. — It is the under- 
standing perceiving the truth respecting God, his law, 
self, the world, time and eternity. It is pre-eminently 
a rational act. The claims of God are perceived acd 
weighed, and in some measure duly estimated. With- 
out such perception and such estimation of truth, there 
can be no rational submission, The submission of the 
true convert is and must be intelligent. Never is there 
a moment in which the sinner thinks according to truth; 
never a moment when he understands himself; never a 
moment when he is rational; if it be not that moment 
when he surrenders himself to God. Then he has come 
to himself — then he acts according to reason, principle 
and truth. It is a knowledge, as well as love of truth, 
that sets the captive free. It is not terror; it is not im- 
agination; it is not enthusiasm; it is not delusion; it is 
not ignorance; it is not a dream; it is not seeing a light, 
or hearing a whisper; or singing hosanna, or uttering a 
groan. It is enlightened reason, summoning at the call 
of the Spirit, the whole intellectual and moral man, to 
act in view of truth — eternal truth. It is the soul act- 
ing upon principle. True submission to God, and his 
law, and his grace, and his government, has a reason, 
and can render a reason. " Of his own will begat he 
us, by the word of truth." 

True submission is voluntary. — It is not only the 
understanding perceiving, but it is the heart choosing 
God. Choice; free, full, determinate, affectionate 
choice; is the grand distinctive trait of submission. — 
This act is the sinner choosing to yield himself to the 
claims of his God. He has no holding back of will, or 
affection. He sees his obligations, feels his ill desert, 



RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. Am 

and in the fulness of a breaking, yielding heart, says, as 
for me, I will serve the Lord; as for me, I surrender 
myself to God, my Creator, Redeemer, Judge. He 
does it voluntarily, not by constraint; he does it cheer- 
fully, not by compulsion. He would have and make 
no other choice; he would have and serve no other 
God. His language is, <c I am thine; my heart is 
fixed, trusting in the Lord." 

True submission is penitential. — Perceiving the 
character of the God he has abused, the excellency of 
the law he has broken, and the love and grace of the 
Saviour he has disowned, the true convert feels the 
aggravation of his guilt. He condemns, loathes and 
grieves over himself, as a rebel against such a God, as a 
violater of such a law, as a proud contemner of such a 
Saviour. He renounces sin, as opposed to infinite 
rectitude and benevolence, as at variance with all 
the principles of right, and as at enmity with the gov- 
ernment of the universe. He is distressed at heart, not 
that he by his sins is exposed to misery; not that he has 
forfeited heaven; but because he is and has been vile 
and unholy. He abhors his character as a sinner, and 
loves God for abhorring his sins; and he would abhor 
himself, and repent in dust and ashes, if the law should 
be enforced, and he should perish. His language is, 
" Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this 
evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when 
thou speakest." " God be merciful to me a sinner." 

True submission is entire. — Tt is a submission of 
self; not a part, but the whole of self; of soul and body; 
all he is and all he has. The true convert makes and 
wishes to make no reserve. He feels that he has noth- 



XIV 



RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 



ing that is his own; his intellect, his talents, his influ- 
ence, his property, his life, all belong to God; and to 
God he freely dedicates the whole; to be ever sacred 
to his service, and to the promotion of his glory. His 
language in heart is, all from Christ — all through Christ 
— and all for Christ. Such is true submission, and all 
that comes short of it in principle or deed, is self and 
sin. ** Ye are not your own." 

True submission is unconditional. — It is a delive- 
ry of self and the will of self, to God and the will of 
God. The true convert has affectionate and implicit 
confidence in God; he honors the will of God as perfect 
and of course as best. He says in regard to all things, 
as God is infinitely wise, holy and righteous, thy will 
be done. He knows that God has a right to reign, and 
always reigns right. Nothing but such a surrender can 
satisfy the true penitent, and nothing else can constitute 
true submission. Having a will at variance with the 
will of God, and this in regard to any one thing, is re- 
bellion. To make a condition of surrender, is to dic- 
tate to God; and to make our will a rule for the divine 
will, is the opposite of submission. Submission gives 
God the sovereignty; it casts all into his hands, leaving 
him to do as he pleases. The true convert does not 
ask, before he submits, shall I be saved ? but he sub- 
mits, knowing and feeling that he might justly perish, 
and leaving it for God to say whether he shall or shall 
not. He knows that he has no right to rebel against 
God, and he chooses not thus to rebel, come life or 
come death. "Thy will be done." 

True submission is instantaneous. — There is no 
moment when the sinner is not either a rebel or a 



RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. XV 

friend. Rebellion diminishes not by degrees; when 
renounced, it is done at once. The first act of affec- 
tionate and holy approval of God's perfect character 
and law, and of holy self-condemnation, and the act of 
submission is done. I say the act of submission, for 
the work of it goes on through life; nay, through eter- 
nity. It matters not how much the sinner may consid- 
er his duty to submit; the longer he considers and 
does not yield, the longer he rebels. It matters not 
how much he allows that he ought to submit; he only 
proves by this that he sins against conscience. It mat- 
ters not how much he may hear about submission; the 
more he hears and does not submit, the greater his 
rebellion. It matters not how much he hopes that he 
shall submit; or how much he resolves to submit; or 
how much he desires others to pray that he may sub- 
mit; or how much he may pray himself that he may 
submit; if he does not submit himself to God, renounc- 
ing his sin and hating his rebellion, he does all with a 
rebellious heart, and of course is still a rebel. 

Why mistake here? why doubt, or why deny? Can 
a sinner become less sinful while all the time sinning? 
can he become less rebellious while all the time rebel- 
ling? and does he cease to rebel before he submits ? — 
There can be no submission in rebellion, and no rebel- 
lion in submission; and as he must either be in the ex- 
ercise of the one or the other, there is an instant when 
the one ceases and the other commences; that is instan- 
taneous submission. Solemn and perverted as the truth 
may be, it is and must be a truth, that there is a point 
in the being of a true convert, too small for the analysis 
or measurement of finite mind, which makes the whole 



XVl Hf.LI G I O U S EXPERIENCE. 

man a new creature — a friend of God. This side of 
that point, no matter what convictions, or prayers, or 
tears, or strivings, or hopes, or professions, all is rebel- 
lion, increasing rebellion; beyond that point, no matter 
what doubts, or fears, or conflicts, or woes, or trials, 
or despair even; all is acceptance with God, salvation 
by grace; that point is the point of submission to God. 
"JVbw," this instant, "is the accepted time.'" — 
"Give mej now, thine heart" 

True submission is open. — As it knows of no re- 
serve, so it allows of no concealment. It is the sub- 
ject choosing to acknowledge his God and king. He 
wishes and will have no reprieve from an open stand, a 
public espousal of the long injured rights of his sovereign. 
The true convert is not ashamed to own the God in 
whose character, and law, and government, he glories. 
The praises of his God and Sovereign, he must and 
will proclaim. The wonderful forbearance that stayed 
the stroke of vengeance, he will magnify. The sove- 
reign electing grace, that snatched him as a brand from 
the fire of sin and the woes of rebellion, he will 
exalt. Of the equity of the law he loves, and the glory 
of the God he serves, he will speak and speak openly. 
Submission is the soul instinct with love. It will come 
forth. As well might the earthquake be bound in its 
mighty heavings; as well might the sun refuse to shine; 
as well might the everlasting rivers cease to flow; as 
for a heart that swells with new born love to God and 
Christ, to conceal that love. Submission is open, in 
broad day light, in view of friend and of foe, of earth 
and Heaven. Let your light so shine, that others 
seeing your good works, may glorify God. 



RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. XV11 

True submission is in reliance upon sovereign 
grace* — Conscious of its own demerit, it trusts in noth- 
ing short of atoning blood. Aware of its weakness, it 
looks alone to Almighty grace for strength. " The 
Lord is my strength and my salvation, my light and 
my hope," is the language of every true convert. — 
Wretched and weak himself, he is happy and strong 
alone in Christ. Under the broad shield of the divine 
perfections and the atonement, the broken hearted sin- 
ner in his anticipated conflict with self, and the world, 
and hell, takes his stand. Looking to his own arm, or 
an arm of flesh, he would shun the field. But arrayed 
in the armor of God; sustained by the truth and prom- 
ises of grace, with the shield of faith, the helmet of sal- 
vation, and the sword of the spirit; he goes joyfully 
forth to conquer, though he die. Submission to God 
fixes its hopes of victory high as the eternal throne, and 
deep as the eternal purpose, and by faith discerns the 
triumph from afar. I can do all things through Christ 
which strengtheneth me. This is his language; and 
amid sorrow or joy, amid clouds or sunlight, amid calm 
or tempest, onward and upward he moves. The Lord 
is my strength. 

True submission is for eternity. — This act when 
performed, runs parallel, in prospect, with the existence 
of obligation and right, with the duration of the being, 
laws, and throne of God. The heart's desire and pur- 
pose through grace, are, to live now, henceforth, and 
forever, to God. The true convert submits to render 
eternal obedience, and to pay eternal homage. He 
wishes no interruption, no cessation, no end to the 
privileges of loving and doing. He would be, and 



XVIU 



RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 



through grace resolves to be, not only to-day, and to- 
morrow, and the next year — but forever and ever, the 
Lord's. Onward he looks, and still onward, as exis- 
tence shall roll by, and proclaims glory to God in the 
highest. True, sanctified but in part he is; true, in- 
constant he is; but still his act of submission, as the 
habitual act, the prevailing act, goes on and on, forev- 
er. His language is, "Thy dominion, O God, is for- 
ever and ever. 5 ' 

Such is true submission, and such is true conversion 
to God. These views and these feelings, embodied in 
the actings of the soul, and this by the wonderful and 
efficacious agency of the Holy Ghost, are experiencing 
religion. Such experience is the sinner surrendering 
himself, intelligently, voluntarily, penitentially, entirely, 
unconditionally, instantaneously, openly, and eternally, 
to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. It is a 
heart-felt approval of God's perfect character, of his 
law, his grace, his glory. With such submission and 
such approval, the heart of the rebel is changed; it is 
on the side and under the approbation of God, and has 
a reason for its hope ! 

II. Such submission appears reasonable, from the 
character and perfections of God. Was the Being who 
claims this submission unwise, mutable, erring, unkind, 
weak and unholy, we might justify rebellion. But the 
God, who claims this submission, is not such a being. 
There is no ignorance, no folly, no mutability, no 
error, no unkindness, no iniquity with him. He is 
God, the Creator, the Preserver, the Proprietor of 
the Universe. He is infinitely powerful, wise, just, 
holy and good. His character, his law, and his claims, 



RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. aIX 

are based on infinite perfection. It is such perfection, 
perfection to which nothing can be added, and from 
which nothing can be taken, that we are called to love, 
honor, and obey, by our submission. And is not such 
submission reasonable ? Is it not right ? Is rebellion 
against infinite perfection just ? Nay! if it be rational 
to yield to the exercise of infinite reason; wise to yield 
to infinite wisdom; right to yield to infinite rectitude; 
good to yield to infinite goodness; and just to yield to 
infinite justice; then is it rational, wise, right, good and 
just, to submit intelligently, voluntarily, penitentially, 
entirely, unconditionally, immediately, openly and eter- 
nally, to God. To withhold such submission an in- 
stant, is to be all that is or can be unwise, and unjust, 
and irrational. It is the dependant, guilty, miserable, 
subject, setting the infinite God at defiance. It is the 
poor rebel sinner, trampling infinite perfection, infinite 
obligation, infinite mercy, under his feet. What a spec- 
tacle to adoring angels, and even to rebel spirits, is such 
a being, holding back allegiance from his God. How 
unreasonable, how unwise, how unholy, such conduct. 
Now, as he thus holds out, does his guilt accumulate; 
how glorious the sentence, should it go forth, from the 
God who is despised — " Cut him down." It is reason- 
able, wise, just, holy and good, for the sinner to submit; 
and such is the submision of the true convert to Christ. 
Such submission has a reason, as firm and good, as is 
the reason that God, the infinite God, should reign; a 
reason that will remain firm and good, as long as the 
throne of God shall stand, and his kingdom endure. 

Submission to God is reasonable, inasmuch as the 
good of the subject and of all created beings demand it. 



XX RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 

That it is reasonable to be and to do good, and this in 
the highest perfection of our capabilities, all admit. — 
Obligation thus to be and thus to do, is as fixed, and 
certain, and eternal, as the supremacy of right over 
wrong, good over evil. Every moral being is account- 
able for his influence; accountable not merely for what 
he is and does as evil, but for all that he might be 
and do as good. Capacity to do good, associated with 
opportunity for the same, creates obligation. The 
question of individual influence, is a question of tre- 
mendous import in the scale of human responsibility; 
it is the question which embraces all other questions; 
such influence, as it is right or wrong, holy or unholy, 
raises the soul to heaven, or sinks it to hell. Every 
individual is a part of the world; and being a part 
of the world, he is a part of the universe; and being a 
part of the world and universe, he helps by what he is 
and does, to form the character of the world, and of the 
universe; he helps make the one. and of course the 
other, more miserable, or more happy; and hence in all 
that he is and does, he is responsible to the world and 
to the universe. If a rebel against God; if a violater of 
the law, on obedience to which rests the only security 
the world and the universe have for holiness, peace, and 
happiness, he stands forth an enemy to such holiness, 
and such peace, and such happiness. By refusing to 
submit to the law, and the government which sustain 
the hopes of all moral beings, he wilfully violates his 
obligations to all these beings, and stands convicted of 
treason against earth and heaven. Let the principles 
and purposes of the least rebel sinner on earth, be acted 
upon and carried out in full practical effect, by all 



R E L I G I0U3 £X1»£ RIK N CE. XXI 

moral beings, and that moment heaven would be filled 
with rebellion; the whole universe hung in sackcloth, 
would be filled with wailing, lamentation, and woe. — 
Selfishness, supreme, with all its direful curses, would 
pour its burning tide from world to world, and as it rolled 
would light the quenchless fires of remorse, and guilt, 
and enmity to God, in every heart that throbs in the 
range of universal and created being. No thanks to 
the rebel, or to rebellion, or to the heart that now re- 
fuses to submit, that this is not the doom of creation. — 
For aught that he has done, or is doing, this catastrophe, 
so appalling, so unutterably dreadful, would happen. 
As great, then, as are the interests of the universe, as 
dependant upon the law of God, so great is the obliga- 
tion of every sinner to keep the law, and thus help 
protect these interests; so great and perfect is the rea- 
sonableness of submission to God. Look over the map 
of the world; pass from shore to shore, from sea to sea, 
from island to island, from continent to continent, nay, 
from man to man; and just as great as are the intellect- 
ual, moral, social and civil interests of the vast whole, 
as capable of being redeemed from sin's degrading in- 
fluence, and made holy and blessed, by obedience to 
the law of God, just so great is our obligation to submit 
to God, that by our obedience we may do all that we 
can to secure this relief, and this blessedness, for suffer- 
ing millions. The law, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
as thyself," embraces a world, and calls upon each one 
on whom it lays its claims, to live for the world, the 
whole world. It is his duty to meet the demands for 
obedience to this law, not only as such obedience would 
bless the world, but as it would increase the joy and 



XXH 



11 ELIGIOUS E X F E R 1 £ N C E. 



blessedness of heaven; and as it would lessen the 
amount of sin, and hence the amount of miser)' in hell. 
He who submits to and obeys God, he who repents, 
does just so much to awaken new songs among the 
enraptured hosts of the upper world; and does so much 
to narrow the way that leads to death eternal, and turn 
back souls that go in thereat. Hence it is that obliga- 
tion, sealed by the claims of God, and followed out in 
its reach to universal being, bears upon the heart of the 
sinner, and urges his submission with the weight of 
three worlds. Such submission is reasonable, as the 
sinner owes it to earth; it is reasonable, as he owes it 
to hell; it is reasonable, as he owes it to heaven. lie 
has no right, by any thought, or word, or deed, to in- 
crease the sins and miseries of the two former, nor to 
lessen the joys that might be in the latter. What 
reasonableness in his submission to God, and to the 
law of universal love. Until this submission, the sin- 
ner is a rebel. He is acting against the world and 
heaven. He is on this side of that act, where all is 
condemnation and death; on this side of that act, in 
which, and beyond which, alone, are love, faith, obe- 
dience, pardon, hope and heaven. He is on this side 
of that act, without which the boundless benevolence 
of a forbearing God and a bleeding Saviour, by being 
despised, only aggravates his guilt. He is on this side 
of that act, without which, if the avenger of blood over- 
take him, he dies the second death; while his own 
conscience, evil spirits, and all the glorified in heaven, 
and meroy itself, will sound a loud amen. The true 
convert alone is right; he alone is reasonable; as per- 
ceiving the character and law of God, and the import- 



RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 



XXlll 



ance of individual influence as related to the good of 
all beings, he intelligently, voluntarily, penitentially, 
entirely, openly, unconditionally, instantanteously, and 
eternally, submits himself to God. On such submis- 
sion, he, through grace, builds his hope for usefulness 
here, and glory hereafter. On this act of submission, 
he places the reason, the only reason, the abiding rea- 
son, of his triumph over self, sin, death and hell! This 
submission, and the reason of it, will abide; they will 
conquer, and conquering, will give to God the Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost, all the glory. 

Reader, is such submission thine? Hast thou intelli- 
gently, voluntarily, penitentially, entirely, uncondition- 
ally, instantaneously, openly, and eternally, given thy- 
self to thy God? Dost thou love his whole character; 
his justice as well as grace? Dost thou love his whole 
law; the penalty as well as precept? Dost thou honor 
Jesus as thou dost honor the Father, making him the 
Almighty Saviour? Dost thou honor, and love, and 
seek to know the word of God, especially the epistles, 
the directories of Christian doctrine and duty? Are 
the doctrines of total depravity, regeneration, election, 
and perseverance, in accordance with thy experience? 
Are you as anxious to be good, as to be happy? to glo- 
rify God and honor Christ, as to be saved? Do you 
hate sin, and loathe yourself on account of sin; and this 
because sin is in itself an evil, and against God? Have 
you given your time, your talents, your attainments, 
your friendship, your business, your property, your all 
to Christ? Are they his in the use of them? Do you 
delight in seeking new supplies of grace, that you may 
be more and more holy, and more and more heavenly 



XXIV 



RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 



minded? Are you personally active in doing good; in 
seeking to instruct, and warn, and reprove, and save 
souls around you, and away from you? Can you say, 
and say it daily, for me to live is and shall be Christ? 
This one thing I do; I live intentionally and habitu- 
ally through Christ and to Christ. Here are tests which 
will sweep away all delusion. Let them be honestly, 
and prayerfully, and in the presence of the holy and 
heart-trying God, laid on the conscience, and they will 
speak. They are tests of principle; they make not 
frames, and feelings, and transient emotions; but habit- 
ual love of duty, and of truth, and of God, the ground 
of joy. This test will prove a hope, which the floods 
of this world's temptations will not sweep away, or 
drown; a hope which will act not merely to-day and 
to-morrow; not transiently, but perpetually; — a hope 
which in its mighty workings, will move the energies of 
the whole soul, and make you content with nothing less 
than a heart, in its desires and benevolence, as large as 
the world with all its perishing millions; — a hope which 
will urge you onward and upward, away from earth's 
sickly, fading scenes, to aspirations after more entire 
conformity to Christ and to Heaven; — a hope that as 
the rising sun, will shine brighter and brighter, until it 
mingles with the purer light, and is consummated amid 
the fruition of eternal day. With such a hope, a hope 
builded on the broad foundation of unconditional sub- 
mission to God in Christ, you may bid the earth quake, 
the sea roar, the elements melt, and all will be well; 
well for time — well for eternity. Without it you are 
undone — undone forever. 



PREFACE. 



" Feed my lambs," was one of the last injunctions 
given by our Lord, before he left this world. While 
ever attentive to the welfare of mankind at large, the 
young and weak of the flock were the objects of his 
care in particular. Herein he answered the description 
given of his character by the prophet: "A bruised reed 
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not 
quench!" Nothing could exceed the strength of his 
love, the tenderness of his reproofs, the exercise of his 
forbearance, and the constancy of his attention towards 
them. Is it not well, therefore, to set him before us as 
our great exemplar? Did he look upon his disciples 
with pity and concern; and, shall his ministers and peo- 
ple be destitute of feeling for them? Did he embrace 
every opportunity to advise and caution, direct and 
warn; and shall we be silent, and forbear instruction? 
Did he strengthen and console, guide and watch over 
them; and shall we pass them by as not worthy of our 
notice and regard? Shall the table be spread, and meat 
provided for the strong, while the weak are put off 
with a few crumbs that fall? Shall the fathers be reg- 
ularly served, while the babes are only occasionally 
fed ? Some, I know, think much of their talents, and 
boast much of their ability in always administering 
strong things to their hearers; and many hearers are 
dissatisfied if such things are not invariably set before 
them. But why is the poor lamb in the fold to be ne- 
glected for the sake of those who are advanced to a 
maturer age? Does any wise parent spend the whole 
B 



XXVI PREFACE. 

of his time in educating and adorning, protecting and 
enriching, the elder of the family, to the neg'ect and 
injury of the younger? Certainly not: neither should 
we. Let the aged be respected; the experienced, fed; 
but let not the young convert be forgotten or discarded. 
Let us behold such with tenderness, strengthen their 
weak hands, exhibit to them what the gospel has pro- 
vided, and thus help them on in the good way. 

It may be said, God will take care of them. Yes, 
he will. But that does not supercede the use of means 
for their encouragement and edification. He who has 
knowledge and experience, talents and opportunity, 
and disdains to stoop and feed the weak, is unfaithful 
to his God, and cruel to his brethren. They stand in 
need of every exertion that can possibly be made on 
their behalf. Their little knowledge, the evils to which 
they are exposed, and their small degree of experience, 
call upon us loudly to assist them to the utmost of our 
ability. 

This little work I have written for this express pur- 
pose. I have endeavored to state the various duties in 
which they are to be engaged ; to suggest suitable cau- 
tions against the dangers with which they are surround- 
ed; and to encourage them in the midst of all those 
difficulties which so frequently arise. The whole is in- 
terspersed with a variety of incidents and anecdotes, 
gathered from the experience of others; so that I trust 
it will be found a suitable volume to put into the hands 
of every serious enquirer, whether of a tender or a 
more advanced age. That it may prove a source of in- 
struction and consolation to every reader, is the earnest 
prayer of the author. C. B. 



THE 



YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S GUIDE. 



CHAPTER I. 



Religion of importance. — Doctrines the foundation of 
religion. — Decision as to doctrines necessary. — 
Doctrines stated. — To be studied in their connexion 
and dependency. — Establishment in them. — Ear- 
nestly to be defended. — The more mysterious to be 
examined with caution. 

It is an ancient, but just observation, that 
"The fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to depart 
from evil is understanding." Religion, how- 
ever despised by the world at large, is un- 
doubtedly the happiness and dignity of man. 
Whatever we possess, if we be destitute of this, 
we are neither wise, safe, nor happy. The 
most splendid titles, illustrious talents, exten- 
sive wealth, or shining honors, can form no 
substitute. He who reverences not God, who 
rebels against his authority without concern, 
and violates his word without fear, may justly 
be said to hold no honorable rank in the scale 
of being ; but is a creature degraded and mis- 
b2 



28 



DIRECTIONS AS 



erable ; irrational and wicked. Such, howev- 
er, are the generality of mankind ; and it is an 
awful reflection, that " Wide is the gate, and 
broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, 
and many there be which go in thereat." — 
Daily observation teaches us that this is as 
true as it is awful. Men are content to live 
without hope, and without God in the world. 
They never inquire hew they shall serve and 
please him who is the kind author of their 
existence, and to whom they are indebted for 
all they enjoy. So far from it, that religion, 
which consists in love and obedience to him, is 
generally treated with ridicule and contempt. 

While we lament, however, the sad and 
universal revolt of man from his Creator, let 
us not. despond ; as though he had abandoned 
the whole human race to perpetual misery, 
given them up to the hardness of their hearts, 
and the curse of his most righteous law. Light 
and Truth are permitted to visit this dark 
abode. The Father of mercies condescends to 
look down with pity from his throne. The 
vilest of sinners are sometimes arrested in their 
career. Conviction seizes their guilty minds. 
Grace leads them in triumph to the cross ; 
they confess their sins, thej behold a Saviour, 
they weep, they rejoice, they renounce the 
world, they sit down at the feet of Jesus, and 
with earnest looks and sincere desires they 
exclaim, Lord, what wilt thou have us to do 7 

Dear reader, if this be your picture, attend 
and follow me for a short season through a few 



TO DOCTRINES. 



29 



pages ; and irmy the God of mercy and peace 
grant his benediction, and render it effectual 
to your edification and comfort ! 

As true religion is founded in sentiment, we 
shall begin with calling your attention to this 
great and essential point. Here then let it be 
observed, that it is of the greatest importance 
that you have right and just principles.- — 
Nothing can be more dangerous than the opin- 
ion which some hold, that it is of little 01 no 
consequence what a man believes, if the life be 
right. But it. would be very difficult to prove 
how the life can be right, if there be no fixed 
principle in the mind ; or if those principles 
be erroneous; for whatsoever a man soweth, 
that also shall he reap. Where a man is un- 
influenced by principle, or acts without thought, 
according to the motives which for the mo- 
ment are presented to his mind^ his conduct 
must be varied and undecided. As all sci- 
ences have their axioms or first principles, from 
which all their various branches and parts are 
deduced, so it can hardly be supposed that 
religion is such a vague, loose, uncertain thing, 
as to be any thing or nothing, just as the pre- 
judices and humors, customs and habits of men 
would make it. One of the first things, how- 
ever, which you will meet with, now you be- 
gin to be concerned about religion, will be an 
attack from those who pretend to superior dis- 
cernment, extensive candor, and free inquiry. 
But you will do well to remember that there is 
a false liberality, as well as an unsanctified 
»3 



UXJ DIRECTIONS AS 

Orthodoxy. You have lately been brought to 
experience a deep compunction of heart for 
your past sins ; nothing can describe, perhaps, 
the sorrow you feel for youv conduct : you 
have been called to repentance, and directed to 
look to a crucified Saviour for deliverance from 
the guilt of sin, and to the Holy Spirit for his 
sanctifying influence to deliyer you from its 
power. But you must not think it strange if 
you should be surrounded with those who 
wish to quiet your fears. Some will tell you, 
that if you have but a sincere heart, opinions 
are nothing. Others will insinuate, that it is 
unreasonable that you should make yourself 
uneasy about your sins, since the Father of the 
universe is alike merciful to all, and never 
made man to damn him. Some ignorant peo- 
ple will pretend to be sorry that you should 
be much concerned about your soul ; while 
they tell you, that others, who have had a bet- 
ter education than you, and are wise and in- 
telligent, do not distress themselves as you do. 
Self-righteous Pharisees will be ready to sug- 
gest to you a plan of religion which will be 
sufficient to raise your reputation as a very 
regular and strict man. Others, again, will be 
eager, perhaps, to propose to you some partic- 
ular doctrine for which they have a predilec- 
tion, or in which they have been taught; while 
others will be ready to neglect or deride you, 
thereby thinking that in a little time they shall 
easily bring you back to your former habits 
and course of life. 



TO DOCTRINES. 



31 



Now, in the midst of all these various insin- 
uations, how are you to act ? Are you to 
suspend your judgment, and have no opinion 
of your own ? Are you to sit still in indolence, 
or give way to the fancies and opinions of oth- 
ers % Are you to be bewildered and confused 
by the -clashing sentiments or the various pro- 
positions made to you by either the falsely 
liberal, the pretended religionist, or the ignorant 
and lukewarm ? No, my dear reader : deter- 
mine in the strength and grace of God to be 
decided. As you have been awakened to a 
sense of your state, and a concern for your 
best interests, determine to seek the truth and 
embrace it. Discard the thought of being 
sometimes one thing and sometimes another. 
Various difficulties may arise in your mind, 
and no doubt you should avoid taking up sen- 
timents rashly, and without consideration. — 
But, in this great and important work, the 
salvation of j^our immortal soul calls upon you 
to be earnest and resolute.* You see how 
prompt and decided men are in the world ; 
they want no exhortations to influence them to 

* We are informed that the late Rev. John Ry- 
land came to this extraordinary resolution : — 

" June 25, Evening 10, 1774, JEt. 20 years, ) 
8 months, and 2 days. J 

" If there is ever a God in heaven or earth, I vow 
and protest in his strength, or that, God permitting 
me, I'll find him out: nnd I'll know whether he 
loves or hates me; or I'll die and perish, soul and 
body, in the pursuit and search. 

" Witness, John Collet Ryland." 

b4 



32 



DIRECTIONS AS 



acquire wealth, to seek fame, to obtain power. 
They are not ashamed to own that they are 
decided ; and they prove it by their earnest 
solicitude, their unwearied labors, their won- 
derful patience, their determined resolution to 
conquer all difficulties. 

But no man can well be decided without a 
rule. Now it is your happiness that } r ou have 
one every way adequate and satisfactory. — 
And what is this % Not the religion of your 
forefathers ; of the State ; of your friends ; of 
a sect ; but the Bible. From thence you must 
derive all your principles. This you must 
study with the greatest attention ; for here you 
will find a grand body of doctrine, in which it 
is desirable you should be established. Here 
learn the character and perfections of God ; 
his wise, just, and universal providence over 
all his creatures. Man's awful and wilful 
apostacy from him ; the sentence pronounced 
on him, and the state of misery and danger to 
which he is reduced by sin. God's wise, eter- 
nal, and gracious purpose towards him, in 
determining the way of his deliverance. The 
execution of this wonderful purpose by our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who came into this world 
to magnify divine justice, honor the law which 
man had broken, and by his own life and death 
to make an atonement, by which, alone, man 
can be justified and saved. The work of the 
Divine Spirit in applying the blessings of re- 
demption, by effectually changing our hearts, 
bestowing on us a living faith, by which we 



TO DOCTRINE*. 



33 



are united to Christ, adopted into his family, 
sanctified in all the powers and faculties of our 
nature, comforted and supported under all the 
troubles of life, and enabled to persevere in all 
the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, 
blameless, until we arrive at the mansions of 
eternal glory. These are excellent and im- 
portant doctrines, which are not to be consid- 
ered or treated as mere matter of speculation, 
but received and esteemed as principles essen- 
tially connected with the interests and happi- 
ness of our immortal souls. They are the 
foundation of all hope, the source of all com- 
fort, and the main spring of true and genuine 
obedience. Observe, therefore, their essential 
nature; their distinguishing features; their 
exact harmony and happy effect* Study 

* Nothing can be more dangerous than holding the 
doctrines, without considering their practical tenden- 
cy. Many, it is to be feared, awfully deceive them- 
selves in this. Let us hear the confession of one, 
who was graciously reclaimed from this awful state. 
"Rushing impetuously (says he) into notions beyond 
my experience, I hasted to make myself a Christian 
by mere doctrine, adopting other men's opinions be- 
fore I had tried them ; and set up for a great light in 
religion, disregarding the internal work of grace begun 
in the soul by the Holy Ghost. This liberty, assumed 
by myself, and not given by Christ, soon grew into 
libertinism, in which I took large progressive strides, 
and advanced to a dreadful height, both in principle 
and practice. In a word, I ran such dangerous 
lengths, both of carnal and spiritual wickedness, that 
I even outwent professed infidels, and shocked the 
irreligious and profane with my horrid blasphemies 
b5 



34 



DIRECTIONS AS 



them constantly, that you may be thoroughly 
furnished, and be capable of rendering a rea- 
son of the hope that is in you. A deficiency 
here will be injurious, render you unstable, and 
expose you to the attacks of infidels, wicked 
men, and subtle disputers. Hold all these 
doctrines fast, and mark their usual depend- 
ence on each other. They maj? be compared 
to a beautiful chain, which if one link be miss- 
ing, it destroys the connexion of the whole. 
It has been the great fault of some, on their 
first setting out, to fix on some one doctrine, to 
which they have paid all their attention, while 
others have been neglected, or but lightly stud- 
ied ; and hence have arisen the extremes to 
which some have run, the lamentable igno- 
rance of some important points, and the bitter 
spirit which has been manifested towards those 
who have not discovered quite so much zeal 
for this one doctrine as they. Some talk much 
of this or that favorite doctrine ; but, my dear 
reader, all the truths and doctrines of godliness 
ought to be valuable in our estimation. Truth 
is uniform ; and it is not one part of it merely 
that should be dear to us, but all of it. Truth 
is like a handsome or well-proportioned person- 
age : every lineament is just ; every feature 

and monstrous impieties. Hardness of heart was 
with me a sign of good confidence, carelessness went 
for trust, empty notions for great faith, a seared con- 
science for assurance of faith, and rash presumption 
for Christian courage." — See Mr. HarVs Life. 



TO DOCTRINES. 



35 



admirable ; while a perfect symmetry runs 
through and adorns the whole. 

Labor to be well established, therefore, in all 
the doctrines, and watch against every thing 
that would divert your mind from the study of 
them. Here too it will be necessary to guard 
you against errors which will sometimes be 
presented to you under a specious but deceit- 
ful form ; for it is not open and decided oppo- 
sition that you have only to fear; but attacks 
will be made under the cover of truth, carrying 
the names of orthodoxy, sound sentiment, 
evangelical light, and great knowledge. You 
may meet with some of these that may try you 
by a soft, insinuating manner, and while pro- 
fessing to give you superior information, are 
only attempting to diffuse their deadly poison ; 
but in general, perhaps, they act a contrary 
way. They will try to overwhelm you ; and 
by their clamor, boldness, and conceited 
strength of argument, raise such a storm, as 
for the present to confound you. These you 
will find to be a kind of people that always 
live in a tempest ; arrogating to themselves 
the honor of being divinely taught ; glad to 
lay hold of a young subject as a prey ; setting 
up their own ignorant, unsanctified standards, 
and ready to anathematize all who dissent 
from their opinions. 

There are some, too, who are fickle, and 

constantly changing their opinions. They 

are, as the Apostle says, " carried about with 

divers and strange doctrines." These you will 

b6 



36 



DIRECTIONS AS 



do well to avoid ; for, properly speaking, they 
have no sentiments of their own. They are 
like light ships, carried hither and thither by 
the wind. They are first in this course, then 
in that. Sometimes seemingly pursuing one 
port; then, by a contrary wind, aiming at 
another; and it is well if at last they are not 
dashed to pieces, and totally ruined. Indeed, 
as you advance, you will meet with the mel- 
ancholy spectacle of many ship-wrecked pro- 
fessors, who, fond of novelty,* and attempting 
to sail round the world of opinion without a 
compass, have fell a victim to their temerity, 
and brought to a sad and fatal end ! 

Hold fast, therefore, the faithful word, and 
while you avoid novelty and indifference, be 
not ashamed to own your principles. It is 
unreasonable, ungrateful, sinful, and danger- 
ous, to be afraid of professing, defending, and 
propagating those truths on which we build 
our everlastiug all. I mention this, because a 
degree of timidity operates sometimes on the 
minds of young converts. In proportion as 
you examine and understand, you will be con- 
vinced there is nothing of which you ought to 
be ashamed. Let the infidel be ashamed of 
his infidelity, the sceptic blush for his unbelief, 
the wicked grieve and tremble for his folly ; 
but never let it be said that you are ashamed 
of the doctrines of the cross, 01 afraid of being 
recognized as the follower of the Redeemer. — 

*See chapter vii. 



TO DOCTRINES. 



37 



Who are ashamed of their beauty, their wis- 
dom, their honorable connexions, their riches, 
their influence ? Who but the ungrateful will 
ever dare to disown their parents, their protec- 
tors, their benefactors, their best friends ? Be- 
hold in the gospel your highest ornament, your 
greatest felicity, your truest wisdom, your best 
riches, your most dignified connexion, your 
kindest parent, your most faithful friend. — 
Come, then, and sit down under the cross, and 
sing— 

"Ashamed of Jesus ? yes, I may, 
When I 've no guilt to wash away ; 
No tear to wipe, no good to crave ; 
No fears to quell, no soul to save. 

Ashamed of Jesus? that dear friend, 
On whom my hopes of heaven depend : 
No, when I blush — be this my shame, 
That I no more revere his name." 

Let me, however, suggest one thing. De- 
cided, courageous, and zealous, as you may 
be for the doctrines of truth, do not imagine 
that you know every thing, or that every thing 
is clearly to be known. There are some grand 
truths revealed to us in the scriptures, which 
we cannot fully comprehend, but must receive 
them upon the authority of revelation. It is 
often the case with the young convert, that he 
wants every thing to appear clear to him at 
first, and he puzzles himself with thoughts on 
some of the more mysterious doctrines, instead 
of beginning with first principles. I do not 



&& DIRECTIONS AS, &c, 

say you should not study such doctrines as the 
existence of God ; the Trinity; predestination 
and election ; the union of the divine and hu- 
man natures of Christ ; his eternal generation ; 
the permission of sin ; liberty and necessity ; 
and many others of the same kind. But this 
I say, they should be attended to with caution, 
and that it is neither for you to pronounce 
upon them rashly, nor to make yourself uneasy 
because you do not understand them. Every 
thing in nature is full of wonder, and he who 
sets about accounting for every thing, will find, 
in the end, that he has accounted for nothing. 
As in the natural, so in the moral and spiritual 
world, there are difficulties, which do not ap- 
pear merely to such minds as yours, but to 
those who have obtained the most extensive 
knowledge. Go on, however, in humble in- 
quhy after divine truths. — Though some of 
them are so bright and radiant, that, like the 
sun, they cannot be beheld without dazzling 
the sight, yet you may walk in their light, and 
rejoice in their influence. Be thankful that 
every thing essential to salvation and happiness 
is clearly revealed. Admire that grace that 
has directed you into the way of truth ; and 
though you cannot know all, encourage your- 
self with the thought, that " the path of the 
just is as the shining light, which shineth more 
and more unto the perfect day." 



CHAPTER II. 

Religion not speculative. — Experience explained and 
defended. — Particular experiences. — How abused. 
— Not to be depended on. — To be reviewed. — Ad- 
miration of God's goodness. 

Real religion does not consist merely in 
knowledge and the belief of doctrines. There 
may be a speculative acquaintance with truth, 
without any feeling of its influence. Some 
are brought up in the habit of constantly hear- 
ing the gospel ; others are led to study the 
scriptures as critics, and seem to be conversant 
in religious truths as their profession ; and all 
this may be without any saving understanding 
of divine things. Indeed, many ridicule the 
idea of experience in religion, as fanatical. — 
They will allow the propriety and necessity of 
it in almost every thing beside, but here they 
consider it as a mark of a weak and enthusi- 
astic mind. But, it is evident such do not 
know what we mean by experience. If by 
experience, be meant something of which we 
can give no rational account ; an impression 
on the mind or an agitation of the passions 
which leads us to extravagant actions ; a wild- 
ness of imagination that excites us to go be- 
yond the boundaries of reason and common 
sense ; a hearing of some voice, having some 



40 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



vision, or feeling some impulse of the mind, 
that we alone are the objects of divine favor; 
then we deny the charge, and confess that we 
have no experience of this nature. We grant 
that some people of disordered imaginations 
have been affected with religious truths; and 
perhaps, from the weakness of their intellect, a 
morbid temperament, or some other cause, 
have said and professed strange things ; but 
they probably would have been affected in the 
same way, whatever subject had impressed 
their minds. Yet we know that the truly re- 
ligious, especially those who possess any de- 
gree of zeal and animation, are branded a3 
characters who are weak and enthusiastic. — 
You must not be surprised, therefore, that if in 
the very first outset you should be treated with 
opprobrium, and marked as one that is deluded 
and led away by false impressions. You must 
therefore stand on your defence, and endeavor 
to form clear and just notions of what is meant 
by experience, that you may be able to repel 
their attacks. And this you will easily be 
enabled to do, by observing the operations of 
your own mind in and since your conversion. 
You must own that it was by a supernatural 
power that you were first led to think on spir- 
itual things, and to feel a delight in them ; but 
you can safely declare that this was not done 
by giving you any new natural faculties; or 
by any miraculous gifts, or divine and imme- 
diate inspirations, like those with which the 
prophets and apostles were favored. You do 



TO EXPERIENCE. 



41 



not pretend to any such things as these ; nor 
is this work carried on in any other way, than 
by the ordinary means which God hath insti- 
tuted. You do indeed profess to hold commu- 
nion with him, and to be under the teachings 
of his grace ; but not without the instruction 
of his word, nor without devoting yourself to 
his service in the solemn acts of public and 
private worship. Nothing, therefore, can be 
irrational or fanatical in this. But it may still 
be asked, what you mean by experience. — 
Here a better account cannot be given, than 
in the words of the great Dr. Owen. "By 
experience (says he) I intend a spiritual sense, 
taste, or relish, of the goodness, sweetness, use- 
ful excellency of gospel truths, endearing our 
hearts to God, causing us to adhere to him 
with delight and constancy. And this experi- 
ence, which is of so great use and advantage, 
consists of three things. 1. A thorough mix- 
ture of the promises with faith. It is that lively 
acting of faith, w T hich the scripture expresses 
by tasting, eating, drinking, which gives a 
real incorporation of the things we are made 
the partakers of. When faith assiduously acts 
upon the promises, so that the mind is filled 
with their contents, then the foundation of this 
experience is laid. 2. It consists in a spiritual 
sense of the excellency of the things believed, 
wherewilh the affections are touched and filled. 
No tongue can express that satisfaction which 
the soul receives in the gracious communica- 
tions of a sense of divine goodness in Christ, 



42 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



whence it rejoiceth with joy unspeakable, and 
full of glory. 3. It consists in experiments of 
the power of the word on all occasions, espe- 
cially as it is a word of righteousness. This 
gives peace with God. This believing ill and 
feeling of the authority of the word, satisfies 
the heart, in its preferring spiritual, invisible, 
and eternal things, before those that are pre- 
sent." — [Dr. Owen on Heb. v. 14.] This is a 
true account of what may be considered as an 
experience of the power of gospel truth in gen- 
eral, and may serve as an answer to all the 
cavils, of objectors. 

Some advice, however, it may be necessary 
to give you relative to particular experiences. 
And, first, you must not make the experience 
of any individual a rule for yourself. Various 
are the ways in which God calls his people to 
the knowledge of the truth. Some have the 
advantage of a religious and sanctified educa- 
tion, and from early age have their minds im- 
pressed with divine things. Others are suf- 
fered to go great lengths in sin before they are 
called. Some are drawn by love, and do not 
find that deep distress as others ; while many 
are reduced to the borders of despair, under a 
view of their enormous guilt and transgression. 
What a difference, for instance, do we find in 
the experience of Watts and Doddridge, when 
compared with Bunyan and Hart ! the former 
were initiated into the principles of Christianity 
almost as soon as they could exercise their 
reasoning powers, and it does not appear that 



TO EXPERIENCE. 



43 



they felt any of those very dreadful terrors to 
which some have been subject.* The latter 
underwent trials and conflicts of a severe and 
spiritual nature, that brought them almost to 
despondency for a season. f Now nothing is 

* Dr. Watts had not only a remarkable inclination 
for learning and poetry, but likewise for theology, 
also, at an early age. He was early taken notice of, 
says Dr. Jennings, for his sprightliness and vivacity ; 
talents which too often prove fatal snares to young 
persons; but, through the power of divine grace, he 
was not only preserved from criminal follies, but had 
a deep sense of religion upon his heart betimes. 

Of Dr. Doddridge, it is said, that, before he could 
read, his mother taught him the history of the Old 
and New Testament, by the assistance of some Dutch 
tiles in the chimney of the room where they usually 
sat, and accompanied her instructions with such wise 
and pious reflections, as made strong and lasting im- 
pressions upon his heart. 

f John Bunyan had abandoned himself to all man- 
ner of wickedness; but when his heart was touched 
by divine grace, he had such a sense of his original 
and inward pollution, that he was ready to conclude 
that he was forsaken of God, and given up to the 
devil and a reprobate mind. He lamented that God 
had made him a man, and not a beast, or bird, or fish, 
whose condition he coveted, because they were not, 
like himself, obnoxious to the wrath of God, and to 
be sent to hell when they died. In this state he re- 
mained several years. 

Mr. Hart gives us the following account of himself .* 
" At length (says he) despair began to make dreadful 
head against me; hopes grew fainter, and terrors 
stronger. The convictions I labored under were hor- 
rible beyond expression. I looked on myself as a 
gospel sinner ; one that had trampled under foot the 



44 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



more common, than for young converts to be 
looking at others, whom they suppose to be 
truly converted ; and if they have not under- 
gone the same feelings of distress, or experi- 
enced the same degrees of comfort as they, that 
therefore they ought to doubt of their state. — 
It is true, that there are some general impres- 
sions and convictions which are common to 
all. For we are all taught by one spirit, and 
baptized, as the apostle says, into one bodj^ : 
but then we must remember that God is not to 
be limited in the manner of his operations. He 
always acts as a wise sovereign ; and if he 
chooses to allure some by his love, and to 
alarm others by his terrors, to accomplish his 
own purpose, and to bring them to the same 
end, who shall say unto him, " What doest 
thou ?" Let not any doubt, therefore, of a 
saving change having taken place, merely be- 
cause they have not been cast into that bitter- 
ness of distress, or have not enjoyed those con- 
solations, or possessed those advantages as 
others. Neither despondency nor exstacy are 

blood of Jesus, and for whom there remained no 
sacrifice for sin. So deep was my despair, that I 
found in me a kind of wish, that I might only be 
damned with the common damnation of the transgres- 
sors of God's law. I thought the hottest place in hell 
must be my portion. All the evangelical promises 
were so far from comforting me, that they were my 
greatest tormentors, because they would only increase 
my condemnation." 

These instances I have mentioned, as specimens of 
the difference of the experience of young converts. 



TOE XPERIENCE. 



45 



essential to conversion. There are other 
marks by which we are to judge, and these 
are clearly laid down in the scriptures : he 
who has a deep conviction of his depravity, 
and is humbled under a sense of it, avoids the 
practice of wilful transgression, feels an ardent 
love to holiness, looks to Christ in all that he 
does, mEikes use of the means given him for 
his spiritual edification and advancement — al- 
though he may never have had sublime joys, 
nor remarkable depressions — has reason to con- 
clude that he is a partaker of divine grace. 

Another hint or two may be further sug- 
gested on the subject of this chapter. You 
believe, dear reader, that it is by divine power 
and grace you have been made to differ. — 
Your intercourse henceforth is to be with God, 
the Father of Spirits, and with his Son Jesus 
Christ. Beyond all doubt, therefore, you are 
to expect divine assistance and support ; for 
without this you cannot stand for a moment. 
But here learn not to place any dependence on 
sudden impressions, dreams, or remarkable 
texts striking your mind, without any evident 
tendency to good. This is too common with 
many, who have not much knowledge and ex- 
perience, to imagine every thing as coming 
from God, not considering that much may 
arise from a nervous Xrame, a melancholy habit, 
or a busy imagination. The enemy of souls, 
also, may easily suggest things, which are at 
first apparently good, but which, if pursued, 
will in the end have an evil tendency. Exam- 



46 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



ine every thing, therefore, by the sacred scrip- 
tures, and whatever impression you have, ask 
whether it is reasonable, scriptural, and likely 
to be beneficial. For want of attention to this, 
many have laid themselves open to the charge 
of enthusiasm ; and the enemies of truth have 
taken occasion, from the weakness and inex- 
perience of one individual, to brand all the 
whole body of believers in Christ, as a weak, 
fanatical and ignorant people. 

Again, my dear reader, never boast of nor 
depend on your experience, as if superior to 
others. If you have had those convictions, 
and felt that pungent sorrow of which we have 
been speaking, beware that you do not un- 
christianize those who have not felt exactly 
the same. Or, if you have been led in a 
gentle, gradual way, do not think that the 
paroxysms of distress which others have la- 
bored under, are unnecessary or singular. — 
Whatever your experience has been on first 
coming to the knowledge and enjoyment of 
the truth, be humble and modest in your rela- 
tion of it. Neither place dependance on your 
present feelings. Nothing is so subject to 
change as human beings. Have you been 
happy hitherto, and found every thing pleas- 
ant and delightful ; be thankful, but look 
also for and prepare against the enemies and 
difficulties that may arise. Are you still 
mourning and cast down under the recollection 
of your former conduct; remember, weeping 
may endure for a night, but joy shall come in 



TO EXPERIENCE 



47 



the morning. " He that goeth forth weeping, 
bearing precious seed, doubtless shall come 
again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves 
with him." 

Lastly, review your experience, and God's 
gracious dealings with you. Admire his 
goodness, that you were brought into such a 
situation, connexion, or circumstance, where 
your mind was impressed. That you have 
the scriptures in your hands, and means for 
understanding them. That you are now trav- 
elling in a road, where, though there may be 
some trials, yet where you are exempt from a 
thousand snares. That you have been ena- 
bled to give up the world, and all your former 
wicked companions, to join those w r ho are the 
excellent of the earth, and the favorites of 
heaven. O think what an infinite mercy, that 
such a sinner as you should be pardoned, 
called, justified, adopted into the family of God, 
and made an heir of God, and a joint heir with 
Jesus Christ. Think of the kindness of his 
providence towards you, from the beginning, 
until this day. — How your wants have been 
supplied, your person preserved, and that, per- 
haps, often in the midst of the greatest dangers. 
Reflect how mercies have followed you in 
every place, the friends that have been raised 
up for you, the blessings that have been unde- 
servedly bestowed upon you ; and now, above 
all, that you should be plucked as a brand from 
the burning, and made meet to be a partaker 
of the inheritance of the saints in light. Surely 



48 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE, «fcc. 



you must say, " Bless the Lord, O my soul ; 
and all that is within me, bless his holy name." 
This chapter might have been greatly en- 
larged ; but having written a distinct Treatise 
on Religious Experience, I must beg leave to 
refer the reader to that publication. 



CHAPTER lit. 

Holy practice the result of just principles. — Retire* 
merit. — Meditation. — Self-examination. — Prayer, 
ejaculatory, closet, family and social. — Rules for 
understanding the scriptures. — Advice as to read- 
ing human authors. 

Having laid down directions as to doctrines 
and experience, let us come now to duties. — 
For while Christianity presents to the mind 
important sentiments which are to be believed, 
and great truths which are to be felt, so it pro- 
poses to us essential duties which are to be 
performed. Indeed, the latter rise out of, and 
are immediately connected with the former ; 
so that to believe aright, and feel as we ought 
to do, is but laying the foundation of holy prac- 
tice. Some may hold the truth in unright- 
eousness, and may make pretensions to high 
experience, while, alas ! they are slaves to sin 
and Satan : but there never were any who had 
right and proper views of the doctrines, and felt 
the real influence of grace on their minds, but 
what delighted in holiness, and desired to adorn 
the doctrines of God, their Saviour, in all 
things. Young converts, however, cannot be 
supposed to understand at once what are the 
best means to be used for the attainment of 
this great object Indeed, some, who have 
c 



50 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



been right in the main, have been sadly bewil- 
dered for a time, by falling in the way of blind 
guides, who have erroneously exhorted them 
to works of superstition and supererogation, 
instead of those plain and simple duties which 
the Bible suggests. A few directions, there- 
fore, on this subject, I hope, will be found suit- 
able and edifying. 

And first, my dear reader, endeavor to gain 
as much time as you possibly can for retire- 
ment. Religious society, no doubt, will be 
advantageous to } T ou in many respects ; and 
God never designed that man should cut him- 
self off from intercourse with his fellow crea- 
tures ; but then it must be remembered, that 
all our time must not be spent in this way. It 
is well to step aside, not only from the world 
and its cares, bat even from the company of 
the saints, that there may be some time for 
serious meditation and reflection. Perhaps it 
is one great evil of the present da} 7 , that there 
is too much hearing, and too little meditating. 
But, as one observes, u it is not the bee's touch- 
ing of the flowers that gathers honey, but her 
abiding for a time upon them, and extracting 
the sweet ;" and thus it is not he that con- 
verses most, that hears most ; but he that 
meditates and digests what he hears, that is 
likely to be the wisest and strongest Christian. 
Let no one say, that he wants matter to call 
forth the exercise of his mind to this delightful 
employ. He is placed in a world where the 
various objects are so many preachers, remind- 



TO PRACTICE. 



51 



ing hira of the wisdom, power and goodness of 
his Creator. He has constantly passing before 
him various and wonderful displays of Divine 
Providence. He has in his hand a volume, 
which contains innumerable interesting sub- 
jects. He has around him perpetual monitors 
of the vanity of the world, the shortness of time, 
and the certainty of death ; so that he has an 
inexhaustible source of profitable meditation, 
Often, then, retire and meditate : you will find 
it the way to improve the faculties of your 
mind, to elevate and warm your affections, to 
obtain peace and felicity, to fit you for the dis- 
charge of duty, both personal* and relative, 
and to enjoy a foretaste of the heavenly world. 
Here, too, while retired from the world, you 
must not forget the important duty of self- 
examination. Nothing can be more necessa- 
ry than this, however it is discarded by some 
as a le^al service. The apostle says, " Exam- 
ine yourselves, prove your own selves," so that 
to neglect this, is surely to violate a New 
Testament precept. It is to be lamented, how- 
ever, that this is little attended to by many 
professors. The world without is explored 
with accuracy and diligence; but the world 
within, the mind % is too often neglected, as if it 
were not our interest to regard that which was 
nearest to us. The merchant examines the 

*I have read, says Dr. South, of an holy person, 
that he used to bestow a whole hour, at least, in 
meditation, before he kneeled down to prayer. 



52 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



state of commerce ; the mariner looks well to 
his vessel; the tradesman narrowly inspects 
his accounts ; the scholar looks back to see 
what progress he has made in science ; the 
traveller counts the miles he has travelled, and 
the distance he has yet to go ; and shall not 
the Christian, who is engaged in a better 
cause, and pursuing nobler objects, shall not 
he often stand still, and ask, "What am 11 
What have I done? What is my knowledge? 
What proficiency have I made ? What has 
occupied my thoughts 1 What has been the 
subject of my conversation ? How have I act- 
ed under afflictions or mercies ? What has 
been the state of my temper, and my conduct 
to my fellow creatures, but especially towards 
God, my maker ?" These, or such like ques- 
tions, cannot but be interesting and important. 
Go, therefore, reader; enter into thy closei, and 
there begin the work of self-inquiry: nothing 
will have a greater tendency to self-abasement, 
to enhance in your estimation the value of the 
atoning sacrifice, and to excite you to live 
more to the glory and praise of your great 
Lord and Master. 

To the duty of self-examination, you must 
add prayer. This has always been considered 
as incumbent upon Christians in every state: 
the best, the most experienced, the oldest, have 
always thought it of the greatest importance 
to be much in the exercise of this duty ; how 
much more you, who are but just beginning 
the Christian race ! In this you solemnly ded- 



TO PRACTICE. 



53 



icate yourself to God,* acknowledge your own 
un worthiness, implore the forgiveness of all 
your sins, entreat his direction and blessing", 
hold communion with him, enjoy solid peace 
and felicity, and adore him for all his goodness 
manifested to you. Here then endeavor to 
obtain the spirit of prayer, for it is not a form, 
a multitude of words, eminent gifts ot speaking, 
that God regards: he looks at the heart, and 
from thence it is that true prayer is to rise. — 
Labor, therefore, after a devotional frame ; for 
then you will find it a pleasure, as well as a 
benefit, to be constantly lifting up your heart 
to God. In this way you may be praying in- 
stantly, taking occasion from every circum- 
stance, whether prosperous or adverse, to draw 
nigh to God. All places, times, events, ordi- 
nances, providences, undertakings, will furnish 
you matter for supplication. You will find it 
advantageous, also, to appoint set times for 
secret or closet devotion. " When thou pray- 
est" says our Lord, "enter into thy closet; and 
when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy 
father which is in secret, and thy father which 
seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." — 
Wise and eminent characters have always 
found it beneficial to be much in the practice 
of closet devotion. Our Lord spent whole 
nights in prayer. Of Bishop Andrews it is 

* Some have thought proper to write out and sub- 
scribe their dedications to God, as a kind of memorial, 
to which they refer for their future improvement. 
c3 



d* DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 

said, that his life was a life of prayer : a great 
part, of five hours every day he spent in prayer 
and devotion to God. The pious Bradford 
used to do every thing, almost, upon his knees. 
Martin Luther thought three hours every day 
were little enough to spend in prayer. Mr. 
Flavel informs us of one that never suffered 
any company to hinder him from the perform- 
ance of this duty, and was used to say, 
" Friends, I must beg your excuse for a little 
while : there is a friend waits to speak with 
me."* Now it is not absolutely necessary that 
you are to follow these examples in every par- 
ticular, for perhaps you may be in situations 
where you have not. the opportunities as they 
had ; yet some time should be found. I have 
ofien thought it a most idle excuse of the luke- 
warm, wno tell us, that they are so taken up 
in their business, that thej' cannot find seasons 
for prayer ; as if Providence had brought a 
man into a situation where he is commanded 
to work so hard, as to have no opportunity of 
devoting himself to God. Is it not better to 
borrow a few minutes from sleep, or from our 
meals, than to be found in the neglect of 
such an excellent practice ? It is true, prayer 
neither informs God, nor changes him ; but as 
it is his own appointed mean, I believe it will 
be found that very little, if any thing, of the 
life of God, will be evident in those who omit 

* See also the remarkable anecdote of the Friar 
and the Night Whisper, in Buck's Anecdotes, vol. ii. 
p. 101. 



TO PRACTICE. 



55 



it. Whatever you neglect, therefore, do not 
neglect this. I speak without hesitation when 
I say. that though you may frequently find 
yourself dead and languid in the performance 
of it, yet you will find it to be your most profit- 
able employ, your happiest asylum, your 
surest refuge, your grand catholicon under all 
the difficulties and trials of human life. 

We might here say something of family de- 
votion, if so be you sustain the character of a 
head of a family ; and even if you do not, if 
you can promote it in any way in others, you 
do well. When we consider how many fami- 
ly sins there are to be deplored, family wants 
to be supplied, family mercies to be thankful 
for, who can doubt the reasonableness or pro- 
priety of having an altar erected to God in our 
houses'? What a blessing is it likely to prove 
to our children, our servants, ourselves, to the 
community at large ! How often will it 
quench strife, sanctify domestic enjoyments, 
alleviate grief, and promote order, decency, and 
religion in general? The blessings are innu- 
merable. As to want of time, of gifts, of cour- 
age, which are often brought forward as objec- 
tions, these are easily obviated. The season 
need not be long : gifts improve by exercise ; 
or if not, a form may be easily procured ;* and 

* I must confess that I am no great advocate for 
forms ; but it is better for those who have not as yet 
the gift of prayer, to use a form, than to give up the 
duty; there are many excellent ones, such as Bean's, 
Jenks' and Palmer's. 

c4 



56 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



as to want of courage, only begin, and the fear 
of man will gradually subside. I believe many 
are deterred from this practice, from an idea of 
their want of ability ; but why should they 
fear before they have made the experiment? 
We know not what we can do until we have 
made the trial ; especially in such a work as 
this. We are told of one, that, when he em- 
braced the gospel, he felt a strong desire to in- 
troduce family prayer ; and though he had no 
children nor servants to oppose his wishes, he 
feared his partner in life might not conform to 
it. One evening, as he was walking the room, 
reflecting on the sinful omission of a duty con- 
stantly urged by his own conscience, he at 
length resolved to make the attempt, and be- 
gan by saying, M How do I wish I could en- 
gage in prayer, like those we hear at the ves- 
try !" His wife replied, u Why do n't you trj* 
to pray at home?" u Are you willing I 
should?" said he. "Willing! certainly." — 
The hindrance, which had only existed in im- 
agination, vanished ; family prayer instantly 
commenced, and, through divine goodness, has 
been continued to this day.* 

Praying with our Christian friends, or social 
prayer, is also very useful ; our Lord has great- 
ly encouraged his people in this, by the prom- 

* See this subject considered more at large, in an 
excellent sermon on family religion, by the Rev. W. 
Scamp, which I beg leave to recommend to all heads 
of families. 



TO PRACTICE. 



57 



ise of his presence .* It was the practice of the 
saints of old,| and is the way to obtain signal 
blessings for the church and ourselves. It is to 
be lamented that many young professors do not 
attend to this important branch of prayer as 
they ought. They should recollect that in this 
exercise they are a source of comfort to others, 
while they are improving their own gifts ; that 
these meetings are indicative of love and be- 
nevolence, as here we pray more especially for 
one another, and the welfare of the church j and 
that it is an evidence of peace and harmony, 
and forebodes the prosperity of Christ's king- 
dom in the world. It was a law among the 
Romans, that none should come near the Em- 
peror's tent, in the night, upon pain of death ; 
but one night a certain soldier was apprehend- 
ed standing near the Emperor's tent with a 
petition to deliver unto him ; he was, therefore, 
according to the law, immediately to be exe- 
cuted : but the Emperor, hearing the noise, 
from within his pavilion, called out, saying, 
" If it be for himself, let him die ; if for another, 
spare his life." On being examined, it was 
found that his petition was for two of his fellow 
soldiers, that were taken asleep on the watch, 
and accordingly he escaped the punishment. 
And thus God is well pleased with the inter- 
cession of his peop!e for others, as it shows 
their affection, their disinterestedness, that they 
do not seek their own, but another's good. 

♦Matt, xviii. 20. fMal. iii. 16. Acts xii. 12. 
c5 



58 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



In the performance of this duty, however, it 
may be necessary to suggest a few hints. — 
There is no occasion to be tedious : scriptural 
expressions should be attended to in preference 
to any witty or singular terms, of our own in- 
venting. It should always be entered upon 
with deep solemnity, a repetition carefully 
avoided, unpleasant gestures and tones watched 
against, the voice sufficiently distinct, but not 
too loud ; and above all, a heart deeply affect- 
ed with the greatness and goodness of God, 
and our own unworthiness. It is not to be 
expected, until you are farther advanced, that 
you can have gifts equal to others ; yet while 
you preserve decency and modesty in all your 
deportment, do not be too backward to engage 
in this work. If you cannot as yet stand be- 
fore the older and more experienced, be not 
afraid to make trials with and among those of 
your own standing. God will be with you ; 
he loves to see his own united, and he has 
promised to increase their talents in the exer- 
cise of them,* 

* Young converts ought to be encouraged to meet 
together for prayer and praise: some give early indi- 
cations of their future greatness, in these exercises. — 
The celebrated Dr. J. Edwards, with some of his 
companions, at a very early age, joined together, and 
built a booth in a swanp, in a very secret and retired 
place, for a place of prayer. 

The great Mr. Matthew Henry, when but a child, 
used to spend an hour every Saturday afternoon in 
religious exercises with his sisters, by his father's di- 
rection, and in his presence : if at any time he thought 



TO PRACTICE. 



m 



The next important duty we would direct 
your attention to, is that of reading. This is 
one great mean which Providence has afforded 
us for our instruction, and ought not to be ne- 
glected by those who have the ability and op- 
portunity to read : it will be of peculiar advan- 
tage to you, whose minds cannot be, as yet, 
considerably informed. And here, above all 
other books, let the Bible be your companion. 
In reading this inestimable volume, observe the 
following rules. 1 . Never think of understand- 
ing the sacred scriptures, without divine as- 
sistance ; look up to God, therefore, for blessing 
and guidance. 2. In general, consult the con- 
text, and beware of taking detached parts to 
favor a preconcerted scheme. 3. Where it 
has a double sense, endeavor to understand the 
literal meaning, before you attempt to accom- 
modate it to that of a spiritual. 4. Beware of 
a fanciful interpretation, and do not affect to 
find out strange things which were never no- 
ticed before.* 5. Be not startled at apparent 

his sisters too short in prayer, he would gravely and 
gently tell them, it was impossible in so short a time 
to include ail the cases and persons which they had 
to recommend to God in prayer. 

* It is affecting to observe how many pervert the 
scriptures, under the pretence of finding its spiritual 
meaning ; and those preachers, who from a plain 
text, or simple historical relation, can discover some 
extraordinary idea, however contrary to sound judg- 
ment and common sense, are reckoned by many the 
deepest divines! — Reader, beware of such a false 
taste. 

06 



60 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



contradictions of the different writers : they 
lived in various ages and places, and used dif- 
ferent images ; but by considering the objects 
they had in view, and the situation, time, etc. 
of the writer, you will find these apparent con- 
tradictions vanish. 6. Look upon the scrip- 
tures as a grand whole, displaying at once 
man's rebellion, and God's wonderful plan of 
saving and supplying him through his Son 
Jesus Christ. 7. If there are difficulties which 
you cannot get over, do not puzzle and make 
yourself unhappy, because you do not imme- 
diately understand : go on in patient research- 
es, and ask instruction from the wise and ex- 
perienced among the people of God. 8. Be 
not ashamed to use those helps which God has 
favored us with, if j 7 ou can possibly attain 
them* 9. Never let your faith in them be 
shaken, nor your diligence in studying them 
be relaxed by the sneers and ridicule of infidels 
and wicked men ; few, if any of them, have 
ever read them through with care; they are, 
therefore, no more judges of them than a blind 
man is of colors. 10. Compare one scripture 
with another, and observe how happily one 
part explains another. 11. Always read them 
with a design to get your mind more informed, 
your affections warmed, and your conduct reg- 
ulated. If, through the divine blessing, you 
are enabled to observe these rules, you will 

* Perhaps no commentaries, on the whole, are more 
useful and edifying, than those of Henry and Scott. 



TO PRACTICE. 



61 



find the scriptures to be a pleasant field, where 
are to be found the stores of spiritual wealth, 
the medicine which will prove an antidote 
against all the evils of life, and where will open 
to you the sublimest, grandest, and most soul- 
satisfying prospects, that can possibly be en- 
joyed. Be not afraid that you shall ever ex- 
haust this valuable treasure. " Daily experi- 
ence, convinces me more and more, (said Dr. 
Doddridge,) that as a thousand charms discov- 
er themselves in the works of nature, when 
attentively viewed with glasses, which had 
escaped the naked eye, so our admiration of 
the holy scriptures will rise in proportion to 
the accuracy with which they are studied." — 
Embrace every opportunity, therefore, of read- 
ing and studying them : their divinity, antiqui- 
ty, harmony, penmen, preservation, purity, 
simplicity, variety and wonderful effect, demand 
your perpetual admiration and regard. Never 
let a day slip, if you can well help it, without 
examining and retaining in your memory some 
part of this precious treasure. Let it dwell in 
you richly, in all wisdom ; and thus you shall 
find it to be as a lamp unto your feet, and a 
light to your path. 

As to other books, let them be read in sub- 
serviency to the Bible. Cultivate a taste for 
reading: they who never read, are seldom 
much informed, while they are strangers to a 
thousand intellectual pleasures, which the ju- 
dicious reader enjoys. There are some who 
affect to be wise without any assistance of this 



V" DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 

sort: they boast of supernatural instruction, 
and pour contempt upon all human learning 
and publications. The Bible alone, say the^, 
is our study; all beside is insipid trash, and 
worthless publications. But such are hardly 
worth reasoning- with, for it has never been 
discovered that they have have possessed supe- 
rior wisdom or religion to others. Books 
undoubtedly have their advantage. "The 
writings of divines are nothing else but a 
preaching of the gospel to the eye, as the voice 
preacheth to the ear. Vocal preaching hath 
the pre-eminence in moving the affections, and 
being diversified according to the state of the 
congregation which attend it ; but books have 
the advantage in many other respects : you 
may read an able preacher, when yow have 
but a mean one to hear. Preachers may be 
silenced or banished, when books may be at 
hand : books may be kept at a smaller charge 
than preachers : we may choose books which 
treat of that very subject which we desire to 
hear of, but we cannot choose what subject 
the preacher shall treat of. If sermons be for- 
gotten, they are gone ; but a book w 7 e may 
read over and over, till we remember it ; and if 
we forget it, we may again peruse it at our 
pleasure or at our leisure. So that good books 
are a very great mercy to the world." 

In reading, however, a few books may be 
better than many, and these should be such 
authors as come well recommended by those 
who are capable of judging; for some titles 



TO PRACTICE. 



63 



are good, but. their contents injurious. Others 
are excellent in part, but still contain some er- 
ror. Some are wholly good, but not fit for j^ou 
till you have more knowledge and experience. 
You may have a desire, perhaps, to read the 
works of those who are not sound in the faith ; 
but, as you would not wish to be seduced, it 
would be better not to meddle with them at all, 
or at least till you become so strong as to be 
capable of withstanding the attacks and oppo- 
sing the sophisms of erroneous teachers. 

You would do well, perhaps, to avail your- 
self of a compendium of divinity, that you may 
study it in all its various parts and relations:* 
and I know of nothing that, is more serviceable 
in the study of divine subjects, than to obtain 
just and precise definitions, which the memory 
can easily retain : you will find this to be a 
kind of basis, on which you may raise the su- 
perstructure of theological knowledge. This 
will enable you to settle disputes, which other- 
wise, perhaps, may be protracted to great 
lengths, and prove injurious to both parties. — 
In all your reading, endeavor to impress the 
contents of the book upon your mind, by often 
recollecting or referring to what you have read. 
Look up to God for his blessing, and observe 
what points you more especially to him ; what, 
if regarded, will wean you more from the 

* Such as Scott's Essays; Brown's System of Nat- 
ural and Revealed Religion; or the Assemblies' Cate- 
chisms. 



64 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE, <tc. 



world, increase your acquaintance with divine 
truth, and enable you to live more for the ben- 
efit of your fellow creatures and the glory of 
God, that this your profiting may appear to all. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Public worship. — The Sabbath. — Ministers. — Direc- 
tions for hearing profitably. — Punctuality in attend- 
ing ordinances. — Joining a church. — The Lord's 
Supper. — Objections to receiving it answered. — 
Advice to church members. — Faith and patience. — 
Diligence in temporal and spiritual concerns. — 
Rules for the improvement of time. 

To be secluded from the world, to worship 
God in our closets and in our families, we have 
already seen to be excellent and praiseworthy 
services ; but it was never intended that these 
should supercede the practice of public devo- 
tion. Some, indeed, have objected to it, but 
■upon grounds that do not appear the least wor- 
thy to be regarded. The example of Jesus in 
attending it, the promises he gives to his peo- 
ple respecting it, the conduct of the apostles, 
and the general precepts in the scriptures rela- 
tive to it, form sufficient arguments to induce 
us to follow a practice, which, both under the 
Old and New Testament dispensation, has 
been eminently sanctioned by God. The Sab- 
bath day is to be peculiarly appropriated to 
this, and may be considered as one of the 
greatest blessings God has given to man. — 
The business of our callings, the things of time, 
the cares of this world, occupy much of ouv 



66 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



attention on the week day, so that with many 
it is exceedingly difficult to find a few hours 
for meditation, prayer and praise. The Sab- 
bath, therefore, is a welcome day to a good 
man ; a day in which he wishes to forget all 
the toils and cares of the week, that he may 
hold communion with God, remember the mer- 
cies he has received, look up for fresh commu- 
nications of divine strength, and anticipate that 
rest which remains for the people of God. 

And here, my dear reader, just let me say, 
avoid every thing that has a tendency to 
weaken your regard for the Sabbath ; begin, 
carry on, and end it with God. Make it a 
long day; it is grievous to think how some 
shorten the time for devotion by unnecessary 
sleep, attention to dress, providing dinners, 
seeing their friends, and pursuing many other 
trifling objects. Consider it always as your 
best day ; a day sacred to God ; a day in 
which you solemnly dedicate yourself to his 
service. Let no circumstance, except that 
which may be occasioned by illness, charity, 
or absolute necessity, prevent your attendance 
on God's house, reading his word, and wor- 
shipping him. Good men, in all ages, have 
found it to be of the greatest utility ; and, 
among the long catalogue of their mercies, 
have not forgot to reckon that of the Sabbath 
day as one of the greatest. 

Public worship must be attended to with 
reverence, sincerity, and gratitude. It is a 
great privilege to be born in a Christian land, 



TO PRACTICE. " « 

to have a house of God to which we can resort, 
and to be favored with that gospel which 
brings life and immortality to light. Here, 
then, some remarks and advice may be neces- 
sary as to the ministry j^ou attend, and the 
manner in which you should hear. God has 
raised up ministers of various talents and 
powers. One excels in stating and defending 
a doctrine ; another in tendering consolation, 
and encouraging the weak ; while others are 
eminent for their close, practical, lively manner 
of preaching. Something of each of these 
should be found in every preacher, but it is not 
often the case that they are equally eminent in 
all. Ministers, however, are not to be despised, 
or spoken lightly of, because of their different 
talents. They have only what God has im- 
parted to them, and they are to be held in 
honor for their work's sake. You are to 
choose for yourself those whom you think you 
receive the most benefit from, after a proper 
hearing ; yet if you were to ask my advice, 
not being as yet settled in your own mind, I 
would say, choose to sit under one who speaks 
to the heart as well as the head; who feels 
himself, as well as make others feel ; who has 
experience as well as knowledge ; who selects 
su'ojects that are profitable rather than curious; 
and who, while he neglects not the essential 
doctrines, is always faithful-, searching, experi- 
mental, and comes close to t'he conscience. — 
Such ministers God greatly blesses, and such 
you are likely to find useful to your own soul. 



68 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



When you have once been directed to a 
suitable minister, under whom you profit, at- 
tend him punctually. Some inconsiderate 
people never think how they disgrace them- 
selves and reflect on their minister, by being 
inconstant.* Neither do they know what they 
lose. Stated ministers, who know their flocks, 
frequently endeavor to elucidate such subjects, 
and preach on such texts, as shall be most edi- 
fying or suitable to their state; or sometimes 
they bring forward a chain of subjects of an 
interesting nature : but the inconstant lose the 
chain, know but little, and often forget the little 
they do hear. Punctuality in business, in our 
friendships, in the performance of our promises, 
is highly esteemed, and why should it not be 
more so in our devotions ? 

Endeavor to be an attentive hearer: the 
wandering eye, the careless mind, the whisper- 
ing tongue, the sleepy habit, ill become the 
house of God. See that your spirit and motive 
be good in hearing. Some do indeed hear 
with a kind of attention, but it is not of the 
right sort. One listens to hear something new; 
a second waits to hear something that his 
captious mind may lay hold of; a third looks 
with interest for some fine turned period — some 
stroke of eloquence; a fourth listens if he can 
find something that will go hard against his 
neighbor rather than himself. But all this is 
misplaced, and what you, my dear reader, 

*See caution as to novelty, chapter vii. 



TO PRACTICE. 



69 



must watch against. Your attention is de- 
manded to the importance of truth, the nature 
of the subject, and how it will promote your 
eternal interests. 

Be sure never to hear without prayer : he 
that hears a minister, says one, before he has 
prayed for him, is like him that sets down to 
his meat before he has craved a blessing. I 
fear the cares of the world, the multiplicity of 
business that closes the Saturday evening, the 
hurry and preparations for the body on a Sab- 
bctth day morning, sometimes render professors 
very forgetful of this part of their duty. Lay 
it down as a rule, if you wish to profit, never 
to neglect this. Short and silent ejaculations 
also may be easily addressed to the divine 
throne, This will tend to keep the mind in a 
right frame, and you may expect that your 
supplications shall not be in vain. 

Above all, hear with a design to reduce to 
practice. It is the best eulogium you can pass 
on a preacher, to Jet him see that his sermons 
are published in your temper and life. It is 
not having a great memory, or merely retain- 
ing the several parts or divisions of ihe sermon, 
but feeling its effect upon our hearts, that is of 
the greatest consequence. But even our mem- 
ories would not be so bad, had we but a greater 
relish for the word : " an affectionate hearer 
will not be a forgetful hearer; love helps the 
memory," if not as to all the particulars, yet 
as to the main thing. As a good woman an- 
swered one, who asked her what she remem- 



'0 DIRECTIONS RELATIVji 

bered of the sermon : she said she could not at 
present recal much, but she heard that which 
should make her reform some things as soon 
as she came home. 

Many things more might be observed upon 
this subject, but I shall only just say, be sure 
to be in the house of God by the time service 
begins. If ministers were to be as irregular as 
some hearers are, they would soon be consid- 
ered as deficient in want of character ; if they 
were to serve the people as the people every 
Lord's day serve them, they would be deemed 
unfit for their office. But why is it a crime in 
one and not in the other % Why is the leader 
of the worship to begin almost by himself, and 
for half an hour afterwards to be disturbed in 
his devotion by the noise occasioned by late 
hearers % Let it always be said of you, that 
you are in your place at the commencement of 
d i v i n e wors h i p . Be w are of e very i m ped i m en t 
that, lies in the way : people talk of difficulties 
in this respect, but such difficulties may easily 
be removed. 

The next thing to which your attention may 
be directed, is this : if you feel and enjoy the 
influence of the divine word, ought } r ou not to 
obey the injunction of your divine Saviour, in 
commemorating his love at the ordinance of 
the Lord's supper 1 Hence it will become 
necessary that you join some Christian com- 
munity. It is for j^ou to judge, after an impar- 
tial examination of what is said by authors on 
church government, to what denomination you 



71 



TO PRACTICE. 



should belong : but avoid the imputation of 
being a religious wanderer. It is a false maxim 
by which some are actuated, who boast with 
an air of triumph that they belong to no party, 
have not joined any church, and do not intend 
to put themselves under the power or influence 
of any body of people whatever. This is only 
saying that they will live as they please, with- 
out being amenable to any one for their con- 
duct ; and thus, if they wander into error, who 
shall reclaim them % if they fall into sin, who 
shall reprove them 9 or if they sink into trouble, 
who will sympathize with them'? 

As to the Lord's supper, it is lamentable to 
think how many neglect it ; but how this can 
be done by any conscientious Christian, with- 
out incurring guilt, I cannot conceive. Noth- 
ing can be plainer than his command, "This 
do in remembrance of me :" and where we 
have been brought to know the grace of God 
in truth, what is it that should prevent us from 
fulfilling his command ? Is it not here that we 
commemorate his sufferings, have a token of 
his love, find our faith strengthened, our hu- 
mility deepened, our love inflamed, our fellow- 
ship with the saints renewed, our detestation 
of sin increased, and our gratitude excited ? — 
Then surely it is both our duty and our privi- 
lege to comply. But perhaps you, my dear 
reader, as well as many others, have many ob- 
jections to bring forward : you are saying', " I 
am unworthy : my heart is often so insensible, 
my thoughts so wandering, my love so cold, I 



** DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 

am afraid to approach." And who is not un- 
worthy ? which of the saints but what have to 
complain of the hardness of their hearts,* the 
sad imperfection of their natures, and the indif- 
ference of their love 1 Converse with them, 
and they will tell you they feel the same as 
you ; and had they stopped till they had been 
above this, they never could have approached 
at all. But perhaps you have stumbled at 
that passage, " He that eateth and drinketh 
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to 
himself." But this word does not mean the 
everlasting damnation of the soul, but signifies 
judgment, and evidently refers to temporal ca- 
lamities, with which those stood in danger of 
being afflicted who prostituted and abused this 
ordinance, as some did in the Corinthian 
church. But then you say, if I should sin 
after 1 have received, how great, must be my 
ingratitude, how complete my misery. But is 
not attending God's ordinances one of the 
surest ways to be kept from sin ? Will not 
the same objection also apply to all other means 
you use, and the enjoyments you have of the 
divine blessing? Be assured these are all ob- 
jections which are too weak to deserve atten- 
tion, so as to keep you from celebrating this 
ordinance. — Come, therefore, however unwor- 
thy ; do not expect to find that in yourself 

* An eminent minister used to say, "That, for his 
own part, he had no other evidence in himself of being 
in a state of grace, than that he was sensible of his 
deadness." 



TO PRACTICE. 



73 



which can only be found in Christ. Do not 
think you are to be excluded, because you 
have not the experience, gifts, or grace as oth- 
ers. God looks not at the measure, but at the 
nature of that good which is in you. " The 
child that, cries, is surely as much a child, as 
the child that talks or sings." Come, venture, 
then, though with trembling steps. The Sa- 
viour waits for your coming. He sees all vour 
heart, he knows all your fears. You perhaps 
are trying yourself; you hold the balance in 
your hand, putting one motive into this scale, 
another into that, and you can scarcely tell 
which will preponderate. Come, and Christ 
will decide. He sees you do not want to be 
deceived. He knows his own grace will turn 
the scale. He will pronounce in your favor. 
Yes, you shall hear him say, " All thy sins 
are forgiven thee : thou art ever with me, and 
all that I have is thine." 

As it respects the community to which you 
belong, I have only to say, always endeavor to 
cultivate a spirit of love. Be no tale-bearer, 
nor tale-hearer. Hate detraction. Bear with 
the infirmities of others. Pray for all. Vene- 
rate your teachers : do nothing that shall wound 
their feelings, or weaken their exertions. Nev- 
er be forward. Submit to elders. Fill up your 
place. Weep with them that weep, and re- 
joice with them that rejoice ; thus you will be 
a blessing to society, an honor to your profes- 
sion, and an example to all around. 

D 



74 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



But you are to meet with difficulties as well 
as to experience pleasures. We must come 
now, therefore, to give you some advice relative 
to the exercise of faith and patience. Indeed, 
your life henceforward is to be a life of faith, 
and your conduct to exhibit and exemplify the 
grace of patience. All will not be clear, you 
must therefore trust. All will not be easy, you 
must therefore bear. Bat remember, whatever 
darkness there may be in Providence, however 
difficult things may appear, you must trust, 
and not be afraid. Faith will irradiate the 
house of affliction, and gild the path of sorrow; 
it will teach you, that, however the providence 
and the promise vary in the way, they will 
meet in the end. This will wipe away the 
tear of grief, and present to you the source of 
comfort. The cloud may sometimes seem sta- 
tionary, and you may imagine it is about to 
burst with destruction upon your head ; but 
faith shall enable you to penetrate the thick 
darkness, and, instead of vengeance, you shall 
see the God of providence smiling on his 
throne. Pray, therefore, for this grace, seeing 
it is so essential to your happiness by the way. 
The promise, indeed, is the Christian's staff, 
but faith is the hand that holds it. Grace is 
the Christian's life; but faith is the shield that 
defends it. Faith is in the soul, what the pulse 
is in the body : it is by this that we must judge 
of the real state of the health. 

As to patience, this we may consider as the 
daughter of faith : this is necessary to enable 



TO PRACTICE. * O 

you to endure; there is no getting through the 
world comfortably without it. He who is de- 
termined to submit to nothing but what is 
pleasant to him, will cut out for himself more 
work than he will ever be able to do. The 
afflictions, insults, disappointments, restraints, 
wrongs, and delays, incident to the present 
state, will call for the exercise of this grace. — 
Your passions will sometimes endeavor to rise: 
present good will be a temptation ; and you 
will begin to ask, " Why should I suffer this 
provocation, or bear that difficulty? Should 
such a man as I suffer ?" Here you will find 
the need of patience : it is this that will possess 
the soul, and keep all in subjection. Nor think 
it dishonorable: you will never appear more 
as a Christian, than when in the midst of 
afflictions and sorrows, you stand resigned to 
the will of God. Afflictions, as one justly ob- 
serves,* supported by patience and surmounted 
by fortitude, give the last finishing to the hero- 
ic and gracious character. Thus the vale of 
tears is the theatre of glory ; that dark cloud 
presents the scene for all the beauties of the 
bow of virtue to appear. Moral grandeur, like 
the sun, is brighter in the day of the storm ; 
and never is so truly sublime, as when strug- 
gling through the darkness of an eclipse. 

Again, cultivate a spirit of diligence, both in 
3 T our temporal and spiritual employ. Young 
professors, who have recently left their old and 

* Logan. 

d2 



76 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



are brought into new connexions, should be 
exceedingly cautious in this respect. Nothing 
is more common, than for the world to charge 
those with idleness, who have changed their 
sentiments as to religion. No cause, therefore, 
should be given for such an imputation. — 
Strictly adhere to your business. Religion 
commands this. There may be difficulties in 
your calling, and so there are in every situa- 
tion ; but let not this relax your exertions, that 
you may give no occasion for the enemy to 
speak evil of 3^011. Besides, assiduity in our 
lawful concerns, is one of the best ways to be 
preserved from temptation. Idleness has led 
to a thousand evil consequences 5 while itself 
is a most unhappy state of mind. It is good 
to be employed. Action is really the life, hap- 
piness, and rest of the mind. " Idleness (as 
one saj's) offers up the soul as a blank to the 
devil for him to write what he wiil upon it. — 
Idleness is the emptiness, and business the ful- 
ness of the soul ; and we all know that we 
may infuse what we will into an empty vessel, 
but a full one has no room for a farther infu- 
sion."* But the soul is of infinite value, and 
the time given us to attend to its concerns, is 
short and rapid. It is humiliating to think 
how many of our hours must necessarily be 
appropriated to the demands of nature. The 
body requires attention, refreshment and sleep. 
Sickness and languor sometimes steal away 

* South. 



TO PRACTICE. 



77 



great portions. Custom and habit are ready 
to seize also a part, and plead the lawfulness 
of their claim. Alas ! how little is left us, 
after all, for the improvement of our powers, 
and attention to our best interests. Let a 
sense of this be impressed upon your mind, that 
the small portion you may have may be well 
applied. And here, then, I would offer a few 
rules for the improvement, of your time, which 
I hope, if attended to, will prove of essential 
service. And first, always lay down your 
plan of duties ; and the work to be done, both 
of a temporal and spiritual kind. Without this, 
much time will be lost ; many difficulties will 
occur ; confusion and disorder will perpetually 
attend you. <C A wise Christian should bring 
eveiy thing into such order, that every ordina- 
ry duty should know its place, and all should 
be as the links of one chain, which draw one 
another. A workman that has all his tools on 
a heap, or out of place, spends much of the day 
in which he should be working", in looking for 
his tools ; when he that knows the place of 
every one, can presently take it, and lose no 
time. So it is in the right timing of our du- 
ties" 2. Never delay the execution of your 
plan, if you can possibly help it, for this will 
bring two days work upon one ; besides, the 
present time is the only time to us. To-morrow 
is all uncertain. Procrastination has ruined 
thousands. It is even better to be before time 
than behind it. 3. Regard the small portions 
of time. Life is made up of them. They are 
d3 



78 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



all unspeakably precious and valuable, and 
when we come to add them up together, at the 
year's end, they will be found larger than we 
think for. 4. Let not your best friends, much 
less the world, take up too much of your time. 
To be always in companjr is not profitable. — 
Conversation too often degenerates into insipid- 
ity, vanity, or, what is worse, slander. In the 
multitude of words there wanteth not sin. 
5. Guard against excessive sleep. Some con- 
stitutions require more than others ; the less we 
can do with, the better. 'T is a gieat time- 
waster. '• I was never tempted so much (says 
a great man) to grudge at Clod's natural order- 
ing of man in any thing, as that we are obliged 
to waste so much of our little time in sleep ; 
nor was I ever tempted to grudge of my weak- 
ness so much on any account, as this, that it 
deprived me of so much precious time, which 
otherwise might have been used in some profit- 
able work." 6. Let not much time be spent 
in little trifling things, or even in some things 
that are lawful; such as dress, recreations, 
eating and drinking, talking, etc. 7. Remem- 
ber time is a talent which God has given you 
to improve ; that it will soon be gone to return 
no more ; " the sun indeed returns every day, 
but time never returns." A man may lose his 
property, lose his health, lose his friends, lose 
his prospects, but they may be restored again ; 
but who can restore time? How much of 
your time is already gone ; and the rest will 
only be as a vapor, that appeareth for a little 



79 

TO PRACTICE. 



while. Think, too, how many have bitterly 
lamented the loss of it when it was too late.* 
Now you have your health and strength : work 
while it is day. Improve the advantages you 
have of wise ministers, faithful friends, divine 
ordinances, godly relatives, religious books 
and all the various means you are favored with 
for the advancement of divine knowledge.— 
Lift up your heart to heaven, and say, L.ora, 
make me to know mine end, and the measure 
of my days, what it is, that I may know how 
frail 1 am. So teach me to number my days, 
that I may apply my heart unto wisdom.- 
Amen." 

• It is said that Glueen Elizabeth, when ^erdeath- 
id exclaimed, "Time, time, a world of wealth for an 



bed, exclaimed 
inch of time." 

d4 



CHAPTER V. 

r Zeal inculcated. — Steadfastness. — Order. — Conscien- 
tiousness.— Leadings of Providence.— Restitution. 
— Uniform obedience.— Usefulness. — Joy. — Grati- 
tude. 

As you are enabled to improve your time 
and gain knowledge, so endeavor to keep up 
that liveliness and holy fervor, which the im- 
portance of the cause in which you are en- 
gaged demands. Zeal is a commendable 
quality, and never more reasonable than when 
displayed for the glory of God and the interests 
of the soul. There is a zeal, indeed, of a coun- 
terfeit kind, of which you must beware. Igno- 
rance, joined with superstition, hypocrisy, self- 
interest and bigotry, will make some exceed- 
ingly zealous. There is a zeal, too, which is 
pure in its nature, but too violent in its opera- 
tion ; and this is often found in young converts. 
Nothing is more common than for such to im- 
agine they can easily confront the in lid el, 
silence the scoffer, and convert the ungodly ; 
and with hasty steps they set about the per- 
formance of great things, before they have ever 
sat down and counted the costs: hence they 
often meet with a defeat, and return confounded 
that they could not accomplish their object. — 
But, my dear reader, you must ever remember, 
d5 



S3 DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 

that whatever have been the mistakes and 
imprudence of such, this will form no apology 
for our indolence and carelessness. In propor- 
tion to your knowledge, so your energy and 
activity ought to advance. tJ It is good to be 
zealously affected always in a good thing." 
The service of Christ is the most interesting in 
which you can be employed. Be zealous, 
therefore, in the discharge of all the duties of 
this service. Be zealous in the defence of it 
from all the attacks of the ignorant and the 
wicked. Be zealous in an open and constant 
profession of it before men. Be zealous in 
using all the means you possibly can for the 
extension of it through the world * You have 
a thousand arguments and motives pressing 
upon you to be up and doing. Think of the 
zeal of others. The man of business requires 
no incentives to excite him to activity for his 
worldly interest. The man of pleasure actu- 
ally goes through many difficulties and hard- 
ships to attain his end. The ambitious man 
wearies himself with many circuitous steps to 
ascend the summit of fame. The man of let- 
ters toils, and labors, and wastes his constitu- 
tion, to add a little more to his intellectual 
riches. Shall these men exhibit such unwea- 
ried exertions for that which is net? shall they 
even expose themselves to the most imminent 
dangers in order to obtain a shadow ? And 

* It is a pleasing employ for young Christians to be 
engaged in diffusing tracts, teaching ignorant children 
to read and understand the principles of Christianity. 



tO PRACTICE. 



ea 



what ! shall we not be zealous for objects infi» 
nitely momentous ; for principles divine and 
pure ; for a cause heavenly and eternal ; for 
happiness sublime, unspeakable ; Consider, 
too, that here we are only walking in the foot- 
steps of an illustrious company gone before. — 
They travelled, they fasted, they prayed, they 
wept, they suffered, they died in the glorious 
cause ! Patriarchs, prophets, apostles, mar- 
tyrs, primitive Christians, hastened with ardor 
to bear testimony to the truth, and pluck 
sinners as brands from the burning. Not to be 
zealous, to be frigid, to stand still, to be indif- 
ferent, is to insult the memory of these noble 
men. Behold too, at the head of all, the 
mighty Saviour, incessantly employed, patient- 
ly enduring, affectionately engaging in our 
behalf, despising the shame, and pressing 
through innumerable difficulties to do good to 
men. Not to be zealous, is to be unlike him 
whom we profess to follow. Think, too, of 
the vast multitudes who are still in ignorance, 
and filled with rebellion against God. What 
if by your zeal you should be the instrument 
of converting but one of these; what honor to 
you ; what a mercy to him ; what joy to the 
church ; what a triumph to heaven. Labor, 
therefore, after this spirit of zeal : look to God, 
that he may constantly keep it in a flame. — 
Watch against all those things which tend to 
damp it ; so shall it be your monument to tell 
to others that you are numbered amongst a 
Moses, a Phinehas, a Caleb, a David, and a 
d6 



84 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



Paul, the zealous promoters of religion and 
truth, and whose activity and energies shall be 
felt to the end of time. 

Another great and important direction neces- 
sary to be attended to, is that of steadfastness. 
Many have gone on well for a season, have 
been the joy of their friends, and bid fair to be- 
come a blessing to the church ; but, alas ! in 
time of temptation they have fallen away !— 
Judging, perhaps, from your present feelings, 
you may be ready to imagine this will never 
be the case with you. " What," are you ready 
to say, " shall I renounce or deny my religion ; 
give up that which I now find of all things to 
be dearest unto me? Can I ever think of de- 
serting that which is my happiness, my glory, 
my surest hope? Can these privileges, now 
so profitable unto me, be ever slighted ? Can 
these people, the excellent of the earth, my 
choice companions, be ever abandoned bj T me? 
Can this inestimable book, the Bible, the de- 
light of my soul, be treated with neglect and 
indifference ? Can this service, in which I 
feel such superior pleasure, be ever relinquished 
even for a season ? That be far from me. Let 
the world look upon me with contempt ; let me 
be driven from society into the wilderness, to 
"be the companion of the beasts of the field ; let 
me bear the most accumulated reproach ; let 
me fall a victim to the most pungent distress, 
rather than such a day as this should appear, 
wherein it should be said, Ah ! — he has cast 
off the fear of God ; he has returned to the 



TO PRACTICE. 85 

world : he is no longer the amiable, promising 
professor ; he has been unmindful of his God, 
and forgotten the rock of his salvation." This, 
my dear reader, may be now the language of 
your heart ; but it is necessary to remind you, 
that though it is certain God will never forsake 
his own, yet that you live in a world of dan- 
gers ; that the heart is deceitful above all 
things, and desperately wicked ; that our feel- 
ings are subject to change ; that we have had 
too many instances of professors, who, trusting 
to themselves, have gone back, like Ephraim, 
in the day of battle. This, therefore, should 
excite the best of us to watch ; but especially 
those who have not been actually tried. The 
young mariner, who has hardly ever been from 
the coast, may dream of perpetual serenity, 
and a pleasant voyage ; but the more experi- 
enced puts into his vessel the requisites for a 
storm. Thus, though it maybe pleasant with 
you now, yet you must make preparation 
against the tempests that will rise, and the dif- 
ficulties that may come upon you. 

We said you were surrounded with dangers. 
The world, the flesh, and the devil, will be 
constantly aiming to draw you from the path 
of duty : in the strength of God, therefore, you 
must stand steadfast. " Be sober, be vigilant, 1 ' 
says the apostle, " because your adversary, the 
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking 
whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast 
in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions 
are accomplished in your brethren that are in 



86 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



the world." Remember, the great Captain of 
your salvation demands your utmost exertions, 
while at the same time he promises you all 
that succor and relief of which you stand in 
need. Consider how much his authority 
should outweigh every argument proposed to 
you by your enemies. It was Pompey's boast, 
that at a word of his, he could make his sol- 
diers creep up the steepest rock on their hands 
and knees, though they were beaten down as 
fast as they went up. Thus you should con- 
sider Christ's words as enough, whatever diffi- 
culties and temptations are in the way: besides, 
you are not left like a poor defenceless soldier, 
without any means of security. Every thing 
is provided for your support and defence, so 
that you may be strong in the Lord, and in the 
power of his might. Your happiness consists 
also in resisting. " All the armor (as one ob- 
serves) provided, is to defend the Christian 
fighting; none to secure him flying: stand, 
and the day is ours; fly or yield, and all is lost. 
Great captains, to make their soldiers more 
resolute, sometimes cut off all hope of a safe 
retreat to thern that run away. Thus the 
Norman conqueror, as soon as his men were 
set on the English shore, sent away his ships 
in their sight, that they might resolve to fight 
or die. There is not a piece to be found for 
the back in all God's armory. Stand, and the 
bullets light all on your armor ; fly, and they 

* See Gurnall's Christian's Armor, an admirable 
book on experimental and practical divinity. 



87 



TO PRACTICE. 



enter into your hearts." It is of importance, 
too, that while you are steadfast in repelling 
every attack, you should be found in the place 
where you may best be able to do it. Here 
you must not stand on another's ground, nor in 
another's way. The child is safest in his fa- 
ther's house ; the subject under his own gov- 
ernment. Now to oppose your enemies with 
success, take care of standing in your own 
strength, or in a careless, disordeily posture. 
" It hath cost some their lives for fighting out 
of their place, though with great success. — 
Manlius killed his own son for no other fault." 
Stand, therefore, on God's ground ; use the ar- 
mor he hath provided ; persevere in the midst 
of all opposition : so shall you be more than a 
conqueror, through him that hath loved you. 
The service may seem hard at first, but 
strength shall be given equal to your day. 
11 As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so 
our consolation aboundeth by Christ." If jou, 
indeed, give way to an inconstant, fickle spirit, 
ready to bend to every slight temptation, to 
run after every new thing, it will be no wonder 
if you get wounded ; but if you persevere, 
though you do feel difficulties in this service, 
yea, supposing that even in the struggle you 
receive a wound, it will be more glorious to 
say, This I received not in deserting, but in 
defending my Master. " If a workman gets a 
cut or a wound from his axe, while he is at 
work in his calling, he may bear it more pa- 
tiently and comfortably than one that is wan- 



88 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



tonly meddling with his tools, and hath noth- 
ing to do with such work. Some, perhaps, 
may be ready to object, and say, If I am thus 
to be always steadfast and precise, I shall lose 
my character, my friends, and many temporal 
advantages. And what if you do ? Is it not 
better to lose every thing, rather than to trifle 
with truth, to make light of sin, and eventually 
bring ourselves into misery and trouble ? for 
trouble must be the end of it ; whereas, on the 
contrary, suffering for Christ is sure to bring 
support with it. When affliction or persecu- 
tion overtakes the Christian travelling in the 
good way, he may show the Bible, as that 
holy man (suffering for Christ) did, and say, 
" This hath made me poor, this hath brought 
me to prison; that is, his faith in the truth, and 
obedience to the commands of it, were the oc- 
casion of his thus suffering : and if you can 
say, Well, it is through this constancy in God's 
ways and work, and not through my indolence, 
my discontent, my pride, that I suffer this loss, 
that I bear this trial, that I meet with this re- 
proach ; happy are you : the spirit of God and 
of glory rests upon you. Go on, therefore, in 
this best of all causes, steadfast, immoveable, 
always abounding in the work of the Lord ; so 
shall ye know that your labor shall not be in 
vain in the Lord. 

In the midst of all, endeavor to keep up com- 
munion with God, and maintain a conscientious 
deportment in every situation where Providence 
may direct you. Some things may appear to 



TO PRACTICE. 



89 



you so dark, that you will hardly be able to tell 
how to act, so as to keep in the path of duty. 
Here, always distrust the dictates of your own 
heart; place the Bible before you, lay aside 
every selfish motive, and after all, if it be diffi- 
cult, be sure to keep to the side of integrity, 
truth and holiness. As it respects the leadings 
of Providence, some people much deceive them- 
selves: they look for some immediate or super- 
natural interposition, or take a detached part of 
scripture ; or their minds have been suddenly 
impressed with the line of conduct they ought 
to pursue, that they make themselves sure 
they must be right. But, though we may 
naturally expect the divine assistance, and 
ought to consult the sacred scriptures, yet we 
should be cautious how we proceed on the 
ground of impulses. Our inclinations, frames, 
or even the bare form of scripture expressions 
by which we maj' be led, form no argument 
that we are right. In all cases of this kind, 
therefore, be deliberate ; do nothing rashly. — 
Examine the business on every side, as far as 
you are capable ; consult those who have more 
experience, for, in general, in the multitude of 
counsellors there is safety ; earnestly beg of 
God to make the way plain. He has prom- 
ised to give wisdom. "The meek will he 
guide in judgment, and teach his way." If 
you have a tender conscience, keep up fellow- 
ship with him ; make his word your rule ; you 
will not, I believe, meet with many problems 



*M DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 

of this kind ; which you will not be able shortly 
to solve. 

But some have been greatly grieved on their 
first entrance into the divine life, at the recol- 
lection of their former conduct towards others. 
A parent perhaps has been insulted, a brother 
or a sister has been misrepresented, a neighbor 
has been injured. In these cases it is proper, 
indeed, that we should feel and make all the 
reparation in our power, since restitution* is 

* The following is part of a copy of a letter sent by 
a young man to his former master, with thirty pounds 
enclosed : — 

" Dear Sir — Prior to my connexion with you, I had 
some knowledge of the principles of religion, and had 
made a considerable profession in the ways of God ; 
but being carried down the tide of pleasure, through 
the giddiness of youth and the numerous temptations 
of the metropolis, (flowing from the prolific source of a 
depraved heart,) wonder not that I should, when given 
up thus to drink in sin with greediness, make a still 
further trespass upon every law, human and divine. 
From the inclosure herewith sent, and the above de- 
clarations, you will be ready to anticipate my design, 
which is, to make a retributous acknowledgment for 
my frequent infringements on your property while 
under your roof: but being now quite unable to ascer- 
tain the amount thereof, I have sent you a draft for 
thirty pounds, which will, I am assured, put you in 
possession of the whole of your property, together 
with interest thereon. The Lord has blessed me with 
a wife, and, with her, a sufficiency to live in easy cir- 
cumstances: but I sometimes hope that he has done 
materially more for me, in teaching me to know my- 
self, and to prize the Saviour of sinners. True relig- 
ion is of an operative nature, and instructs her votaries 
to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this world ; 



TO PRACTICE. 



91 



both the law of reason and of revelation. We 
should not, however, let the remembrance of 
our past conduct in the days of our ignorance 
so operate as to embitter our present comfort. 
If in times past we have done evil to any, let us 
now become their friends, and demonstrate the 
reality of our conversion, by doing good to those 
we once despised and wilfully wronged. Main- 
tain in every place a uniform obedience. This 
will be a greater evidence of your love to God, 
than if you had the most astonishing powers 
ever conferred upon a human being. This will 
often put to silence the clamor and ignorance 
of foolish men ; this will exhibit religion as it 
really is, as a living principle, man's best orna- 
ment, and his true security and happiness. In 
every thing set before you the example of 
Christ. Ask the question continually, "Can 

I do this, and not sin ?" and while you feel your 
own weakness, and that without grace you 
can do nothing, place youx confidence in his 
strength ; draw near to his throne, and say, 

II Cleanse thou me from secret faults : keep 
back thy servant also from presumptuous sins ; 
let them not have dominion over me ; then 
shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from 
the great transgression. Let the words of my 
mouth and the meditation of my heart be ac- 
ceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and 
my Redeemer." 

as a proof whereof, this act may be considered as an 
effect of the grace of God on the heart." 



92 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



It may be the case with some of my readers, 
that Providence has favored them with more 
talents, wealth and opportunity than others, 
To such I would say, next to your own per- 
sonal holiness and felicity, study to be useful. 
Do not imagine that the work of doing good is 
left entirely to ministers and eminent Christ- 
ians. There is a field in which the private 
Christian may move ; and by attention to his 
duty in it, he shall find it constantly enlarging. 
But you may ask, what good can I do ? In 
what way can I be employed so as to be ser- 
viceable to my fellow creatures ? I answer, 
look around, and you will find a multitude of 
imperious calls, saying, come and help us. Is 
there no Sunday School ypu can institute 
in your neighborhood, or, if instituted, you 
may promote? Are there not many children 
you behold in a deplorable state of ignorance, 
that you may be the instrument of teaching ? 
Cannot you purchase at a small expense, re- 
ligious tracts, and disseminate them far and 
wide ? Do you not know of many dark 
towns, villages, and hamlets, where these, in 
all probability, may be a blessing?* As you 
yourself grow in knowledge, and find the ad- 
vantage of an acquaintance with divine things, 
are there no sick poor whom you can visit, 
relieve, and instruct ? This you will find use- 

* Within a few years this mode of doing good has 
been greatly successful. The Reports of the Relig- 
ious Tract Society are highly encouraging and inter- 
estinsr. 



TO PRACTICE. 



93 



ful to your own soul, u for it is better to go to 
the house of mourning, than the house of feast- 
ing." Consider, too, how many necessitous 
cases there are in your neighborhood, how 
many wretched families, how many naked 
children about the streets ; yes, reader, and 
among the rest, ask, is there no poor minister 
whom you can assist* Consider how many 
of them, with their wives and families, are liv- 
ing upon a miserable pittance. They have 
left the world, to be useful in the church. — 
They have relinquished all advantages from 
the exercise of secular callings, in order to be 
more devoted to the important service of doing 
good. The wants of children must be sup- 
plied. They must have food. Clothes must 
be found to make them, at least, decent. A 
habitation, however small, is required to screen 
them, with their parents, from the cold and 

* Some ministers with small salaries, find it difficult 
to live so as to be free from incurring debts: and rath- 
er than do this, they sometimes are obligated to fore- 
go the comforts of life. — One, whom I well know, af- 
ter every attempt to make both ends meet, told his 
wife that they must still retrench, in order to pay ev- 
ery one their own. She replied, that she could not 
tell how it could possibly be done, as they always 
used the utmost frugality. He said, however, "It 
must be done:" accordingly they agreed to give up 
tea and butter, now and then using a little dripping 
instead of butter! Wealthy professors, instead of 
making tours for pleasure, perhaps would do better if 
they would now and then take a journey of benevo- 
lence, in order to find out poor and worthy men whose 
exertions are actually cramped by penury. 



94 



DIRECTIONS RELATIVE 



wet. Now consider how many shillings } r ou 
have spent at a play ; how much you have 
laid out in adorning your person ; what sums 
have been devoted to purposes of the most use- 
less nature. O, what a noble exchange, if now 
your feet are directed to these abodes of neces- 
sit} 7 ", and the hand of liberality is extended to 
smooth the rugged road of adversity, and alle- 
viate the wants of the poor and indigent. Per- 
haps you have connexions in affluence : where 
you have opportunity, stir them up also. Be 
piously bold and prudently active in using your 
interest with them ; you may find greater suc- 
cess than you expect. The hearts of all are in 
God's hand, and his people have been pleasing- 
ly disappointed, sometimes, in finding sanction 
from quarters they little thought of. But my 
readers may be placed in different situations, 
and possessed of various talents : let them re- 
member, however, that they are all God's stew- 
ards, to be employed in different parts of his 
house. Some may have learning ; then such 
are the more capable of instructing others : and 
it is a considerable advantage when genius 
and knowledge are sanctified for the purposes 
of advancing truth in the world. Some never 
know what it is to be visited with disease and 
sickness: then such should devote their health 
and strength, for these are talents, to God's 
service. Others, again, have a wonderful fa- 
cility of communication ; then how easily may 
they learn to speak a word in season. In fine, 
whatever our talents are, we must use them. 



TO PRACTICE. "° 

God never bestowed them that we should hide 
them in a napkin. Much prudence and cau- 
tion, indeed,* will be necessary here in the 
young Christian; but with a dependence on 
God for direction, a close application to the 
scriptures, judicious advice from experienced 
characters, a humble sense of our own unwor- 
thiness ; there is nothing like an attempt, at 
least, to do good. But, my dear reader, take 
this advice : Do not think of doing every thing 
at once, nor expect to see your talents in- 
creased in an hour. Ee not, however, disheart- 
ened; begin in an humble way : sow one grain 
to-day, two to-morrow, three the next day, and 
thus advance gradually. It is the way in 
which God himself works. Creation, provi- 
dence, and grace, are all systems thus carried 
on. And, O, what a pleasure will it be, by 
and by, to look back and say, five, ten, twenty 
years ago, I endeavored to cultivate that field, 
to break up that barren ground, to sow that 
seed ; and now behold what a crop. One 
comes and says, " The word you spake upon 
a certain occasion, became the word of life to 
my soul." A second rises up. and says, " That 
tract you put into the hand of that ignorant 
man, has, under God, saved his soul." (t That 
school you instituted, (says a third,) has been 
a nursery for God, and many are praising God 
in heaven, who there first learnt to praise him 
on earth." But, behold a crowd surrounds 

*See next chapter. 



96 



DIRECTIONS R E L AT I V E 



your door ; and who are these ? These are 
the children of those indigent parents, who, 
now grown up to maturity, are come to testify 
their gratitude to their kind benefactor ; and 
to say, " Let a thousand blessings rest upon 
his head, for he visited us in the day of our ca- 
lamity, and lent an ear to the tale of our dis- 
tress. Fie pitied our sorrows, and raised us 
from misery and ruin. The God of peace be 
with him, and, when he comes to the grave, 
may it be as the ripe shock of corn in its sea- 
son. Amen." 

Finally, cultivate a spirit of joy and grati- 
tude, in the midst of all the comforts and bles- 
sings God has bestowed upon you. Where is 
it that the Christian is seen in his glory? — 
Where is it that he shines and resembles most 
the inhabitants of the celestial world ? It is 
in the valley of humility, where joy inspires 
his heart, and grateful strains are poured forth 
from his lips. Sing the praises, therefore, of 
your God and Saviour. You are travelling to 
heaven ; you shall soon join the general as- 
sembly above. The mercies received, the 
blessings you now enjoy, the hope of still 
greater favors, are matter of the strongest grat- 
itude. Go on, therefore, in his way, and, as 
you pass on, lift up your head with joy, and 
sing :— 

"O bless the Lord, my soul; 

Let all within me join, 
And aid my tongue to bless his name, 

Whose favors are divine. 



TO PRACTICE. 

He crowns my life with love, 
When ransom'd from the grave : 

He that redeem'd my soul from hell 
Hath sov'reign power to save. 

O bless the Lord my soul, 

Nor let his mercies lie 
Forgotten in unthankfulness, 

And without praises die." 
E 



97 



CHAPTER VI. 

Cautions as to pride. — Volatility.— Loquacity. — For* 
wardness. — Forming connexions. — Marriage. — Un- 
happy partners, and conduct towards them. 

As in the preceding chapters we have given 
some general directions relative to doctrines, 
experience, and practice, let us now proceed to 
suggest some suitable cautions. For as the 
world is full of snares, and the heart ever ready- 
to turn aside from the right object, we stand in 
need of being warned as well as directed. 

And first, my dear reader, beware of high 
and conceited thoughts of yourself; for, not- 
withstanding you have been humbled under a 
view of your own depravity, you will still find 
a sad propensity to this evil. Nothing is more 
common than for young Christians to be vainly 
puffed up after they have been some short time 
in the good way ; and the reasons, perhaps, 
(as one observes,) may be these : — " 1. Partly 
because the suddenness of their change, com- 
ing out of darkness into a light which they 
never saw before, amazes and transports them, 
and makes them think that they are almost in 
heaven, and that there is not much more to be 
attained. 2. It is partly because they have 
not knowledge enough to know how many 
things there are that they are yet ignorant of 
e2 



100 



CAUTIONS. 



And, 3. It is because the devil doth with great 
industry, lay this net to entrap young con- 
verts." This is the first thing, therefore, you 
must watch against. It will assault you in 
various ways, in every place, by ever} 7 circum- 
stance. Legal hope will be attempting every 
now and then to lift up its head. Self-right- 
eousness adheres so close to us all, that it re- 
quires constant applications to divine grace, to 
keep it under. You will find that you will not 
be able to perform any duty, to engage in any 
good work, to bear any difficulty for the sake 
of Christ, but what this spirit will corrupt it 
all ; especially when you feel yourself com- 
fortable, your utterance in prayer enlarged, 
your zeal for God inflamed, or you have done 
any thing which has pleased others, will this 
evil arise ! Yes ! strange as it may seem, 
your best moments, your moments of humilia- 
tion, of communion with God, of abstraction 
from the world, will be taken advantage of by 
the pride of the heart, and the suggestions of 
Satan, to make you think more highly than 
you ought to think, [t is a great work, in- 
deed, and must be the business of our whole 
lives, to learn bow to be abased, to maintain 
right views of ourselves, to keep at the foot of 
the cross, and fee] as we ought. It is easy to 
use scripture phrases, to declaim against pride, 
to confess that we are vile, tell others that we 
are unworthy, the least of all, the chief of sin- 
ners ; but to enter into these sentiments, actu- 
ally and constantly to abhor ourselves, to feel 



CAUTIONS. 



101 



indignation at the vanity and pride of our 
hearts, to mourn under a sense of our imperfec- 
tions ; this is the spirit, the feeling congenial to 
our proud natures. Yet something of this 
must be maintained by every Christian ; for in 
proportion as pride rises, God is insulted, Christ 
dishonored, the Holy Spirit grieved. Perhaps 
you have superior endowments, a fine under- 
standing, a good memory, a vivid imagination, 
a strong judgment : then you are in still great- 
er danger. It is difficult to possess such pow- 
ers, without being conceited; though at the 
same time it may be truly said, that a humble 
spirit outweighs them all. You may have 
received applause from some unthinking per- 
son, which has had a tendency to elate you. — ■ 
But remember that such people, if they knew 
every thing about you, would be ashamed of 
such unqualified praise, which they have given 
you. But it may be, that your conversion 
was more singular than others : then you have 
the more reason to be humbled, that C4od 
should make use of extraordinary methods for 
the calling of such an unworthy creature as 
you. Or, since j^our change, you have been 
enabled to do some great thing, that has aston- 
ished those of longer standing. But, perhaps, 
if every circumstance be considered minutely, 
if we draw near and inspect the object with 
care, we shall see, after all, that this is not in 
reality the case. Alas ! my dear reader, it. is 
a mortifying reflection, that many things 
which appear Great and splendid, even in the 
e3 



102 



CAUTIONS. 



religious world, when they come to be ana- 
lyzed, are found to be not altogether what they 
appear. Faith, perhaps, has been attended 
with some degree of presumption. Insensibil- 
ity has been substituted for patience ; natural 
courage for Christian fortitude; and a warm 
temperament for true zeal ; so that we have 
all just cause for suspecting our own hearts. 
Study, therefore, to maintain lowly views of 
yourself: think of your former aggravated 
transgressions, your sins since conversion, your 
forgetfulness of God, and yet his wonderful 
compassion, notwithstanding the infinite holi- 
ness of his nature, and the inflexibility of his 
justice. Think what a poor insignificant mor- 
tal you are before him ; how you have insulted 
him ; and what an everlasting wonder that he 
did not suffer you to perish in your sin ! Re- 
member that you have not the least excellency 
in you but what is his, an emanation from him; 
and that without his grace you would have 
been in the most abandoned and forlorn condit- 
ion. Consider, too, how little it is, as yet, that 
you know; what vast depths there are in 
scripture ; what mysteries m the divine dis- 
pensations ; what glories in the grand scheme 
of redemption that you have never yet under- 
stood. Reflect, also, on the consequences of 
the spirit of pride. There is not a greater 
source of misery than this : it is a kind of in- 
toxication, which renders a man liable to stum- 
ble at every little thing before him ; blinds his 
eyes, or causes him to see things different from 



CAUTIONS. 



103 



what they are ; to talk incoherently, and im- 
agine at the same time all is well. 

O look up to God, therefore, for grace to 
keep you from this greatest of all evils, and 
that you may be blessed with a humble spirit : 
then, indeed, will you be safe and happy. As 
there is hardly an evil which pride does not 
draw after it, so, on the contrary, there is hard- 
ly a blessing which humility does not either 
produce or attend. If you are humble, you 
will be dependant on God for every thing, and 
say, with the apostle, " When I am weak, then 
am I strong." You will be convinced of your 
ignorance, and consequently be excited to the 
attainment of greater knowledge. You will 
be drawn out in love to God for his great con- 
descension and abundant goodness towards 
you. You will be patient under his hand 
when he smites you, and acknowledge the 
wisdom of his providence, however dark and 
mysterious. You will be contented with what 
he has given you, and refrain from murmuring 
because you are not like others You will be 
grateful to him for the little } r ou may have, 
and sing his praises over the smallest portion, 
confessing you are not worthy of any thing 
from his hand. This will influence you to be 
docile, to conceal your own excellencies, to ac- 
knowledge mistakes, to exercise moderation in 
all things, and never to aim at any thing above 
your strength ; and as it respects your fellow 
creatures, it will teach you to honor, love, bear, 
forgive, and be active for their best interests. 
e4 



104 



CAUTIONS. 



Again, beware of a volatile, loquacious, for- 
ward disposition. I do not. mean that you 
should not be cheerful. To put on a melan- 
choly gloom, to indulge a sadness of spirit, as 
if there were no comfort in religion, or as if we 
were going to the regions of darkness rather 
than light, is highly injudicious, both as it re- 
spects ourselves, and the cause in which we 
are engaged. God loves to see his servants 
happy ; or, as an old writer* expresses it, " He 
delights to have his mercy seen in the cheerful 
countenance of his servants, while they are at 
his work." But cheerfulness is different from 
volatility. The former is reasonable, eviden- 
tial of gratitude and satisfaction ; the latter, 
unmeaning, empty, foolish, and injurious. — 
Maintain, therefore, a proper gravity, that shall 
not rise into a noisy mirth. " While cheerful- 
ness is the sail, let seriousness be the ballast of 
the vessel ; if we want ballast, we may move 
too swiftly; and if we want sail, we shall 
move too slowly. "f 

There are seasons, indeed, when we may be 
called to more than ordinary lamentation and 
sorrow; such as national calamities, the loss 
of our friends, and particularly when the church 
of God is in a state of great opposition and suf- 
fering. Among the Romans, when any man 
was accused for his life, all his relations put 
on mourning apparel, and followed him to his 
trial in mourning; thereby to show their love 

*Gurnall. f Bradbury. 



CAUTIONS. 



105 



to the party in danger. Thus, it does not be- 
come us to rejoice when the church is under a 
cloud, but to mourn and pray, and wait for her 
deliverance. 

Again, it will be well to avoid a talkative 
disposition. Not that you are to be distant, 
cold, and reserved, or imagine that everything 
pleasantly spoken is sinful ; but it is better to 
listen to others of more wisdom and experience, 
than to speak much ourselves. It is seldom 
that in much speaking there is much edification. 
Even among professors of religion, it is to be 
lamented that the noble faculty of speech is not 
always used for the best of purposes ; and 
many, instead of coming to the point, of enter- 
ing into profitable conversation, dwell more 
upon the surface. The place, the minister, the 
talent, the externals, seem to be the subject 
matter, more than the real thing. Some have 
a natural volubility, and talking is more easy 
to them than any thing beside ; and these are 
tnore likely to do harm, (though perhaps with- 
out any intention,) than those who are reserved. 
Such should endeavor to restrain the tongue, 
knowing that in the multitude of words there 
wanteth not sin. Whenever we do speak, our 
conversation should be serious and improving. 
M Let your speech," says the apostle, " be al- 
ways with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye 
may know how ye ought to answer every 
man." Ask yourself after you have left com* 
pany, what have I said ? What has been the 
conversation ? Has any thing been talked of 



106 



C A U T I N S. 



worth remembrance ? Have I said any thing 
for the improvement of others, or heard any 
thing for my own good ? As to matter for 
conversation, you will always be well furnished, 
if you are enabled to maintain a spirituality of 
mind, and this you should endeavor to do un- 
der all the varying situations and circum- 
stances of life. 

Again, beware of an appearance of forward- 
ness and self-sufficiency. This is too frequent- 
ly found among professors, and arises from 
their ignorance and zeal. We see Peter him- 
self was of this disposition, notwithstanding he 
was the intimate disciple of our Lord. A 
readiness to do erood, an aptitude for engaging 
in religious exercises, may be commendable; 
but that disposition which prompts you to in- 
quire into every one's business, to push by the 
experienced and tne wise, and to intrude into 
the concerns of every friend or brother, is high- 
ly reprehensible There is another thing, too, 
which is not uncommon. When persons are 
first brought to see their lost state, and the love 
of God in delivering them from such great 
misery, they are so filled with affection and 
zeal, that they wish they could make the 
whole world know the value and excellency 
of religion ; hence, they want to commence 
preachers before they themselves are furnished 
with sufficient knowledge and ability. Now, 
while I would not entirely discourage such,* 

* It is said of Mr. Matthew Henry, that when very 
young", he would meet frequently with some good 



CAUTIONS. 



107 



(for many illustrious ministers have dated their 
first impressions as to the work of the ministry, 
from those seasons,) yet I would say, wait, be 
patient, consult your minister or friends, see 
whether the idea remains : ask yourself sol- 
emnly what are your motives, and whether 
you are as ready to bear all the difficulties, as 
to share all the honors of so great a work. 

Farther, be cautious as to the company you 
keep, and the connexions you form. It may 
be your situation is such, that you are sur- 
rounded with those who are enemies to God 
and religion. This, no doubt, will be a source 
of grief; yet this is different from making them 
the people of our choice. It will be necessary 
that you act with all prudence and circum- 
spection before them : for what will be looked 
upon as a mistake in others, will be considered 
as a crime in you. But you will probably be 
now looking around for new companions, suit- 
able to your own principles and views. Here, 
be not in haste. Do not imagine that every 
one that can talk about religion is a (it person 



r. 



people that used to pray together, and confer abou. 
spiritual concerns; and that he would not only pray 
with them, and repeat sermons, but would sometimes 
explain the chapters read, and enlarge upon them, 
very much to the benefit and comfort, and even to the 
wonder of those that were present; and whim one of 
them expressed some fear to his father, lest his son 
should be too forward, and fall into the snare of spir- 
itual pride, his father replied, "Come, let him go on : 
ho fears God, and designs well, and I hope God will 
keep him and bless him." 

1:6 



103 



cautions;. 



for an associate ; or that every one that makes 
a profession is a real Christian. Inquire of 
your more experienced Christian friends, for 
those who are solid, judicious, lively, spiritual, 
and much devoted to God. Such may be a 
blessing to you, to reprove you when you wan- 
der, advise you when in difficulties, succor you 
in temptation, explain those things which ap- 
pear mysterious, and pray for and animate you 
by their example. If you obtain such ac- 
quaintance as these, prize them, love them, 
and walk with them in the good way ; so shall 
you find the truth of the wise man's observa- 
tion, that, two are better than one, and that 
Christian friendship is a blessing indeed. 

But I must now proceed to a subject of 
great importance, in which, if ever caution is 
necessary, it is here ; and that is, as to the 
choice of connexions for life. I know not of 
any thing that deserves more consideration, 
and yet, alas! it is as little attended to as any 
thing. From the various instances L have 
witnessed, I am led to pity, from my heart, the 
state of some professors in this respect. They 
are introduced into company among females, 
they attend with such in religious societies, 
or they assemble with them in the house of 
God. An object is selected that seems to 
strike, either from personal beauty, some loqua- 
cious powers, genteel appearance, or some kind 
of external accomplishment. The mind is 
captivated : the young convert thinks this will 
complete his happiness. The business, per- 



CAU T IONS. 



100 



haps, is shortly settled, and the conjugal union 
formed. But, alas ! in the blindness of attach- 
ment, he has forgotten to ask the opinion of 
his minister or friends. He has never inquired 
what this person is at home; whether there is 
any reason to believe that she is truly serious ; 
what she really could do for him as a wife; 
and. whether she will be a blessing or a curse 
to his soul. He has heard her talk and sing, 
and give her opinion upon preachers, and he 
has taken it for granted that these qualifica- 
tions included every other. Miserable man ! 
he has soon found, as cares, and wants, and 
a family came on, even the appearance of re- 
ligion has declined ; and, instead of having a 
help-meet, perhaps days, and months, and 
years, pass, without one word about religion, 
or the good of the soul. 

Now, my dear reader, let. this relation be a 
warning to you. In forming this connexion, 
be deliberate : making it a matter of prayer. 
Inquire in every direction, before your mind is 
made known to the object. Be sure to get the 
most unequivocal evidence as to piety, in the 
first place. Never rest satisfied with any ap- 
pearance in public, for there is much deception 
in this. Consider what an important and per- 
manent union this is: it is a kind of decisive 
period, in which the lot is cast for happiness or 
misery all our days. Think if you should 
marry an ungodly person, what must be the 
consequence. How will you pray, read the 
scriptures, converse, catechise your children, 



110 



CAUTIONS. 



meditate, sing the praises of God, or perform 
with comfort any act of devotion in your fami- 
ly, when there is such hatred and opposition 
to it 1 Besides, such are often great snares. 
The wicked are seldom quiet, inactive and 
careless. They love to gratify their evil pro- 
pensities, and whatever stands in the way to 
this, excites their hatred. Alas ! how often 
have we seen the hands tied up, the lips sealed, 
through an ungodly partner. They can more 
easily make us lukewarm, than we can make 
them serious. Many, indeed, have entered 
into the connexion with their e} 7 es open ; but 
it has been under the idea that the object was 
ivell inclined, and that no doubt they should be 
able, to bring them over. Now we will not say 
but what God has sometimes blessed the 
means ; but it is a dangerous experiment, and 
multitudes have found themselves awfully dis- 
appointed ! My dear reader, whatever others 
say, whatever carnal prudence dictates, w hat- 
ever natural inclination may suggest; take the 
Bible, and pray that you may be decided by 
its authority alone; for there it is that you will 
find this solemn interdiction : " Be ye not une- 
qually yoked together with unbelievers ; for 
what fellowship hath righteousness with un- 
righteousness, and what communion hath light 
with darkness ?" " Wherefore come out from 
among them, and be ye separate, saith the 
Lord, and touch not the unclean thing ; and I 
will receive you, and will be a father unto you, 
and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith 



C A U T I o sr s. 



Ill 



the Lord Almighty." On other circumstances 
connected with marriage, I have little to say ; 
but I will just mention what an old divine 
thought proper to suggest, many years ago. — 
" Make sure (says he) of the following quali- 
ties :— 1. That there be a loving and not a self- 
ish nature, that has no regard to another, but 
for their own end. 2. That there be a nature 
quiet and patient, and not forward and un- 
pleasant. 3. That there be a competency of 
wit, (or wisdom,) for no one can live lovingly 
and comfortably with a fool. 4. That there 
be a competent humility, for there is no quiet- 
ness to be expected with the proud. 5. That 
there be a power to be silent as well as to 
speak, for a babbling tongue is a continual 
vexation.' 1 When you are brought into this 
new connexion, study to please ; consider the 
mercy of a beloved partner, a bosom friend, a 
fellow helper; pray together, prepare for trials, 
as well as be thankful for comforts. For this 
settling in life, as it is often called, is only the 
beginning of a new course of sorrows and joys, 
of pains and pleasure. An altar in your house, 
however, is the way to sweeten all your cares; 
and you may sit down together and sing : 

<( With ^ift.s of grace our hearts endow, 

Of all rich dowries best ; 
Our substance bless, and peace bestow 

To sweeten all the rest. 

U\ purest love our souls unite, 
That they, with Christian care, 

May make domestic burdens light, 
By taking mutual share." 



112 



CAUTIONS. 



And when that solemn hour shall come, 

And life's short space be o'er, 
May we in triumph reach that home 

Where we shall part no more! 

But, perhaps, some of roy readers have en- 
tered into this situation before their conversion, 
and what can they do now? I answer, this 
must not, dissolve the connexion ; " For what 
knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save 
thy husband % or how knowest thou, O man, 
whether thou shalt save thy wife ?" Act with 
great prudence. Exert yourself in the use of 
every mean to produce a change. Bear af- 
fronts and contempt on account of religion. — - 
Observe the fittest opportunities for introducing 
sacred subjects. Do not despair of the little 
success of the first attempt; no, nor the use- 
less attempts of months and years. There 
have been instances in which prejudice, obsti- 
nacy, ignorance and passion, have stood out 
for a long season, and yet been brought down 
at last. Go on praying, and let there be all 
meekness, kindness, patience, sympathy, ten- 
derness, and propriety of behavior, that shall 
leave them without excuse, and put it out of 
their power to bring any charge against you 
or religion ; and who can tell, they maj^ at last 
be won, and you become heirs together of the 
grace of life, and declare together the wonder- 
ful goodness of God. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Cautions as to novelty. — Vain cariosity. — Captious- 
ness. — Disputation. — Anger. — Discontent. — Big- 
otry. 

Amidst the various objects which affect the 
human mind, those which are novel may be 
considered as the most powerful. Things new 
always strike us with peculiar force ; and 
whether we are children, or men, we cannot 
help being moved with any thing of an extra- 
ordinary nature, that we never saw nor heard 
of before. There is, however, a kind of novelty 
in the religious world, that ought to be guard- 
ed against : and here I refer to that by which 
many are induced to go from place to place, to 
hear strange doctrines and new preachers. — 
Like the Athenians, they spend their time in 
nothing else but telling or hearing something 
new. On the believer's first setting out, he is 
soon surrounded with these ; and the young 
Christian must not wonder if he is invited by 
such to follow their example. They will tell 
you what great things they have heard of such 
characters ; what a pity it is you should deny 
yourself the pleasure of hearing them ; and 
what an advantage it would be were you to 
attend, notwithstanding you might leave your 
pew vacant at your own place. Now it is cer- 



114 



CAUTIONS. 



tain that there is no occasion you should be so 
tied as to make the place where you worship a 
prison ; and there may be occasions when 
you may be called to hear others beside your 
own teachers. It would be hard, indeed, were 
your liberty thus to be restricted.* But let me 
intreat you to beware of itching ears ; for when 
once people are influenced by this spirit, they 
are never satisfied with any thing long togeth- 
er. For the novelty which was so soon exci- 
ted, as soon also degenerates into familiarity; 
and the very persons that but a short time ago 
were all in a flame, are now as cold and indif- 
ferent ! Hence they seek for another new ob- 
ject, which in a short time w T ill meet the same 
fate ; and thus these novelists a are full of labor, 
so that none can utter it, whose eye is not sat- 
isfied with seeing, nor their ear filled with 
hearing." Beware, therefore, of such a spirit, 
which, if indulged and suffered to grow, will 
make } r ou restless and discontented. I do not 
know any people who get less good for them- 
selves, and do less good to others, than such. 
They are so unstable, that there is no doing 
any thing with them. They are sometimes, 
indeed, so pleased with a minister, as to join 
his church, and profess that they are quite 
willing to sit under his ministry, and take up 
their abode there. But the first advertisement 
of some new and extraordinary preacher, that 

* There may be occasions, also, of leaving one 
church to join another ; but this is a different thing. 



CAUTIONS. 



115 



is to advance some strange thing, discuss some 
particular doctrine, or preach upon a particular 
subject, has such an effect upon them, that 
they desert their new situation, and leave the 
pastor and the people to find out, if they can, 
what is become of them ! Now, my dear 
reader, avoid such, and remember the words of 
the apostle, "That henceforth be no more chil- 
dren, tossed to and fro, and carried about with 
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men 
and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in 
wait to deceive." You see it is a mark of 
weakness, emptiness, instability, thus to be in- 
fluenced. But it may be said, the talents of 
some are so great, that it is really worth while 
to attend them ; though it must be confessed, 
say they, that their spirit or conduct may not 
be altogether as ihey ought. So then gifts 
are to be the objects we are to look at. But 
what are gifts? Have not wicked men gifts? 
Does God sanctify them without grace? Is it 
likely that you should obtain any real good 
from mere gifts, where God's blessing cannot 
reasonably be expected? Certainly not. And 
here let me relate the following anecdote. A 
lady, in company with Mr. Grimshaw, was ad- 
miring a man of talents : " Madam," said he, 
"I am glad you never saw the devil." "Why?" 
said she. " Why, answered Mr. Grimshaw, 
11 he has greater talents than all the ministers in 
the world. I am fearful, if you were to see him, 
you would fall in love with him, as you seem 
to regard talents without sanctity." Do not, 



116 



CAUTIONS. 



therefore, be led away by the sound of talents. 
Let the ministry under which Providence has 
called you, be never wilfully deserted through 
the influence of novelty. There dwell, and 
pray fervently that it may prove to you increas- 
ingly edifying, consolatory, and instructing. 

Another caution necessary to be suggested, 
is that relative to vain curiosity. Curiosity is, 
of itself, a useful spring of knowledge; but it 
may become unlawful, when we desire to know 
what cannot be known, or what is not necessary 
for us to know. How improper it is, we may 
easily learn from our Lord's conduct towards 
such as were curious. Thus, when he was 
asked, " Are there few that be saved ?" instead 
of gratifying them, he says, u Strive to enter in 
at the strait gate." When Pilate, probably 
from the same motive, asked, "What is truth?" 
he gave him no answer. W T hen Peter said, 
" Lord, what shall this man do V he said, 
u What is that to thee 1 Follow thou me." — 
Be cautious, therefore, of indulging a vain cu- 
riosity, and that as to a variety of subjects. — 
God himself is great and unsearchable : dis- 
tract not yourself as to the essence of his na- 
ture ; for touching the Almighty, we cannot 
find him out. He is the high and lofty One, 
that inhabiteth eternity, and no man hath seen 
him at any time, nor can see him and live. — 
His providences are mysterious : be not curi- 
ous to know, till he himself shall make it clear. 
Do not attempt to be beforehand with him. It 
is like going from the sun to increase your 



CAUTIONS. 



117 



light. Wait his time. What thou knowest 
not now, thou shalt know hereafter .* Be not 
over curious and anxious to know all his word 
at once, and especially those prophecies which 
time alone can explain. This is a great fault 
with some. " They are so eager to know 
what is meant by the obscurer parts of scrip- 
ture, that they never put in practice the plainer 
precepts of it."| Beware, too, of a vain curi- 
osity in reading other books. Do not affect 
superior knowledge ; nor be desirous of enter- 
ing into every curious question that fancy may 
proposej Avoid, also, curiosity concerning 
the affairs of others. The apostle says, " Study 
to be quiet, and do your own business." We 
ought certainly to help others as much as we 
can : relationship, circumstances, our own in- 
terest, duty, all require this. But to invade 
another man's office, to pry into his affairs, to 
pass our opinion without being called upon, to 
attempt to influence, control, or teach them, to 
talk continually about them, is highly repre- 
hensible ; and we may say to such, as one in 
ancient time said : " Why, (said he, to one 
who, seeing him carrying a covered basket, 
and asked him what was in it,) why dost thou 
seek to know, when thou seest it is covered, 
that thou mayest not know ?" Watch, then, 
against this spirit, and remember the command 
of the Saviour, " Follow me." Draw off your 
attention from the creature, to imbibe his Spirit, 

* John xiii. 7. f Seed. { See chap. iii. p. 45, 46. 



118 



CAUTIONS. 



attend to his doctrine, imitate his conduct.— 
How much more edifying and satisfactory is 
this, than to be losing so much time in looking 
at the affairs of others ! Indeed, he who gives 
himself up to this inquisitive, curious disposi- 
tion, will find much to do. He will always be 
abroad surveying others ; never at home, look- 
ing at himself. What this man has, how 
another man lives, which way this person will 
take, what mode another adopts^ and a thou- 
sand such questions, will so occupy and fill 
the mind, as to leave no room for things of 
greater importance. Alas ! what pride, envy, 
forwardness, jealousy, are at the bottom of all 
this ; and how often does it end in misrepre- 
sentation, discord, and trouble ! Have we not 
all enough to do at home ? And have we not 
a thousand questions to ask ourselves rather 
than others ? What ! are our concerns so lit- 
tle, as to need no attention ? the affairs of our 
immortal souls so trifling, as to demand no in- 
quiry 1 Can we throw away time by whole- 
sale in busying ourselves about others, and re- 
serve none for our own interests ? Let us be 
ashamed of such conduct. Let us be severe 
upon ourselves ; mind our own work, and 
leave our neighbors to mind theirs. 

Again, beware of a captious, irritable, dispu- 
tatious spirit. It is for you rather to learn than 
to dispute. Controversy may sometimes be 
useful ; but then it is for the strong, and not 
for the weak. To engage too early in dispu- 
tations, will take off your mind from the pursuit 



CAUTIONS. 



119 



of more important things, and 'spoil, perhaps, 
the sweetness of that fellowship which you 
should keep up with the saints. I do not 
mean that you should not examine truth for 
yourself, that you should never exercise your 
own powers :* no ; on the contrary, it is your 
duty to search accurately, to avail yourself of 
every argument, to gain clear perceptions, and 
furnish yourself with every possible mean of 
understanding and defending the truth. But. 
this cannot be done in a day : it is a work of 
time, and requires much application and 
thought. Many young professors, who, feeling 
the influence of divine things upon their own 
hearts, and from warm impressions, have im- 
agined they could easily enter into the lists 
with their antagonists. They have therefore 
ventured boldly to attack them, but have soon 
found such subtleties, objections, and apparent 
strength of argument, as have proved too much 
for them ; and they have been glad to make a 
retreat, leaving the enemy to glory, and afford- 
ed him fresh occasions to strengthen himself in 
his ignorance, infidelity, or disobedience. All 
this has been disgraceful, arising from the im- 
prudence of this young soldier, who, had he 
waited a little longer to have gained strength, 
to have learnt his exercise, to have increased 
his knowledge, would have been more able to 
defend the truth and gain the conquest. 

* See chap. i. p. 17. 



120 



CAUTIONS. 



Some are naturally of a reasoning, argumen- 
tative turn. If this should he your peculiarity, 
see to it, that you do not pride yourself in it. — 
Let not the love of triumph, but of truth, be 
the main object. Remember, that a disputa- 
tious person is generally a disagreeable one. — 
A love of contradiction, a cavil for a word, a 
violent contest for a quibble, an assumption of 
a dictatorial spirit, a contentious wrangling for 
non-essentials, renders some so much the ob- 
jects of aversion, that if it be known that such 
are to make part of the company, others will 
gladly stay awajr rather than be tormented for 
an hour by such unhappy beings. 

Whenever, therefore, you hold a controversy, 
watch against such a spirit as this: and if you 
must argue, let it be with modesty, good na- 
ture, softness of voice ; and in the midst of all, 
remember, how little you yet know ; that it 
becomes you to be docile, and never to be of- 
fended with faithful reproof. You will have 
every day reason to lament over ignorance ; 
and the higher you advance on the mount of 
knowledge, the wider the prospects, the more 
vast the objects will appear to your view. 

Endeavor, under the divine blessing, to main- 
tain a meek and patient spirit. This is of 
great price in the sight of God. Anger is 
troublesome, discordant, dishonorable, cruel, 
dangerous, renders us more like furies than 
rational beings. But for a Christian to indulge 
in anger, is to contradict his principles and 
profession, and to violate those sacred injunc- 



C A U T I O N & 



121 



tions, which he takes for the rules of his spirit 
and conduct.* It is in vain for any to say, it 
is constitutional, it cannot be helped, it is soon 
over, nothing evil is intended. " These," says 
an ingenious writer, " are arguments for par- 
doning a bull or a mastiff, but shall never re- 
concile me to an intellectual savage. He is 
ready to do the very next moment something 
he can never repair ; and has nothing to plead 
in his own defence, but that he is apt to do 
mischief as fast as he can." Grace, indeed, 
does not eradicate our natural tempers ; but it 
is saying little to its honor if it does not curb 
them. A fiery, passionate, resentful, impatient, 
hectoring Christian, is a strange contradiction. 
It is said of the late Rev. Mr. Clarke, of Ches- 
ham Bois, that when one observed to him that 
there was a good deal in a person's natural 
disposition, that he made this answer : " Nat- 
ural disposition ! why I am naturally as irrita- 
ble as an}' man ; but when I find anger, or 
passion, or any other evil temper, arise in my 
mind, immediately I go to my Redeemer, and 
confessing my sins, I give myself up to be 
managed by him. This is the \va.y I have 
taken to get the mastery of my passions." — 
Study meekness, therefore,! and let it be evi- 

* Sec Rom. xii. 9 to 21. Eph. iv. 26, 31, 32. 

♦Three great, dictates of meekness, (as one ob- 
serves,) we find put together in one scripture; (James 

19;) "Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to 
wrath;" which some observe to be couched in three 
proper names of Ishmaers son, (Gen. xxv. 14, 1 Chr. 
F 



122 



CAUTIONS, 



dent by submission to God. by bearing provo- 
cations, curbing the tongue, studying domes- 
tic quietness, acknowledging offences, concili- 
ating the affections of others, and rendering 
them every service in your power. Its advan- 
tages are every way great. The meek enjoy 
themselves, enjoy their friends, enjoy their 
God, and enjoy the promises; for large is their 
portion of these. M The meek shall eat and be 
satisfied;" " the meek will he guide in judg- 
ment ;" u the meek shall inherit the earth." 
" The Lord lifteth up the meek." " He will 
beautify the meek with salvation." " The 
meek shall increase their joy in the Lord." — 
l! Blessed are the meek." This is encourage- 
ment sufficient, one would think, to excite us 
most earnestly to attain this spirit. For here 
is contentment, direction, possession, exalta- 
tion, ornament and felicity. And history cor- 
roborates these declarations ; for in the ordina- 
ry dispensations of Providence, some tell us 
that they have found it remarkably true in 
times of public trouble and calamity, that it 
hath fared best with the meek and quiet.* — 
But perhaps you will say, those with whom I 
have to do are so very contrary, troublesome, 

i. 30,) which Bishop Prideaux, in the beginning of the 
wars, recommended to a gentleman who had been his 
pupil, as the summary of his advice; JWishma, Dumuh, 
Massa : the signification of which, is, Hear, keep si- 
lence, bear. — Hear reason, keep passion silent, and then 
3 r ou will not find it difficult to bear the provocation. 
* Dr. Hammond's Pract. Cat. p. 117. 



C A DTIONS. 



123 



and churlish ; they try me all the day long; it 
is necessary almost to have the disposition of 
an angel, to bear with them : they cross me in 
every purpose, and endeavor to thwart every 
design. Now the best way to act with such 
people, is, to leave them to themselves, if }'ou 
can do nothing with them by kindness. They 
will soon find that all the arrows they shoot 
with fall upon their own heads, and that they 
themselves are the greatest sufferers. Where 
two persons dwell together of a warm spirit, 
great contentions are likely to ensue, if some 
plan be not laid down, or Christianity has no 
influence. Perhaps your natural temper may 
be irritable, and your lot may be cast with 
those whose dispositions are the same. Never 
ask the proud question, " who ought to give 
way first V but rather, whose anger shall sub- 
side first ? "I have heard," says Mr. Henry, 

of a married couple, who, though they were 
both naturally of a hot and hasty temper, yet 
lived very comfortably, in that relation, by ob- 
serving an agreement made between them- 
selves, never to be both angry together; an ex- 
cellent law of meekness, which, if faithfully 
lived up to, would prevent many of those 
breaches among relations, which occasion so 
much guilt and grief, and are seldom healed 
without a scar." 

Study also the divine art of contentment. — 

It is a divine injunction, tl Ee content with 

such things as ye have ; for he hath said, I 

will never leave thee nor forsake thee." And 

f2 



124 



CAUTIONS. 



what is more reasonable than to acquiesce 
with his will, to remember we are under his 
care, and that is best for us which he sees 
best? Even some of the heathens confessed 
this. Epictetus, a pagan philosopher, thus 
directs his speech to God : " Use me to what 
thou pleasest. I consent unto thee, and am 
indifferent. I refuse nothing which seemeth 
good to thee ; lead me whither thou wilt ; put 
on me what garment thou pleasest. Wilt thou 
have me to be a governor or a private man ; to 
stay at home or to be banished ; to be poor or 
to be rich 7 I will, in respect to all these 
things, apologize for thee with men." Lei us 
remember, too, that it is a false estimate we 
make when we imagine every body is better 
off than ourselves. There is a greater equality 
of blessings than we imagine. Socrates well 
observed, u that if we should bring into one 
common stock all our mishaps, so that each 
should receive his portion of them, gladly the 
most would take up their own, and go their 
ways." If you consider things as you ought, 
you will find a thousand incentives to this duty. 
Reason dictates, religion demands it, gratitude 
requires it ; our condition in this world, how- 
ever low, calls for it. God's relations, provi- 
dences, promises, goodness, are all arguments 
for it * Our own interest, too, is concerned in 

* When Mr. Joseph Alleine, who was deprived of 
the use of his arms and legs before death, was asked 
by a friend how he could be so well contented to lie 
so long in that condition, he answered, "What! is 



CAUTIONS. 



125 



it ; for if we give way to a querulous, discon- 
tented disposition, we shall be of all creatures 
most miserable. Look upon yourself, then, my 
dear reader, as one who has no cause for dis- 
satisfaction ; as one who lives in God's house, 
at his table, under his protection, waited upon 
by his servants, served by heaven and earth, 
protected by his authority; to whom no evil 
can transpire without his permission, and who 
shall finally be brought to the everlasting en- 
joyment of his presence in a better world. 

Once more, beware of a narrow, bigotted 
spirit. Young disciples are liable to fall a vic- 
tim to this. Not that you are to make no dis- 
tinctions ; to imagine that the opinions of men 
are of no consequence as long as they are 
charitable and moral. There is a counterfeit 
candor which admits error with the same un- 
concern as if it were of no consequence; but 
where is the excellency of that kind of charity 
that insults the understanding, smiles at sin, 
trifles with truth, covers every failing with a 
gloss, and suffers our fellow-creatures to go on 
in the most awful state of rebellion against 
God ? Such a spurious candor you must re- 
ject, whatever reproach and insult it may ex- 
pose you to. There is, however, a narrowness 
of mind which becomes exceedingly injurious, 

God my Father, Jesus Christ my Saviour, and the 
Holy Spirit, my sanctifier and comforter ; and shall I 
not be content without limbs and health ? He is an 
unreasonable wretch that cannot be content with a 
God, though he had nothing else." 

f3 



136 



CAUTIONS. 



of which you will do well to beware. Bigotry 
is a severe judge, sitting upon the throne of ig- 
norance, and passing the sentence of condem- 
nation upon all who differ in the least from the 
opinions of her subjects. Persecution and era- 
elty are her servants, carrying her sanguinary 
commands into execution. Now who would 
wish to harbor such a detestable monster 1 a 
monster that would put out ever/ one's ej-es 
but her own ; that would proscribe every sen- 
timent except that which she admires; that, 
wishes every understanding to be swallowed 
up in one ; that would destroy every mode of 
worship but that which she adopts ; in fine, 
that would depopulate the church, and reserve 
heaven only for a few solitary individuals. — 
My dear reader, avoid such a principle. Nev- 
er judge harshly, partially, and uncharitably 
of others. Do not imagine that others are not 
going to heaven, because they see not as you 
do. The minds of men differ ; they can never 
be exactly alike : and as others give you leave 
to judge and think for yourself, so in return 
you must let them have the same liberty. 

Love and revere all the servants of God, 
wherever you find them, although in some 
things they may not be agreed with you. Be 
not like those who seem never happy, except 
others are walking exactly in the same circle 
with them ; who love to make parties, and 
cause divisions, and all under the pretence of 
superior sanctity or greater knowledge. Abom- 
inate the thought, that nothing can be good 



CAUTIONS. 



127 



except it proceed from your own denomination. 
Stand upon the grave of party prejudice, and 
exclaim, " Grace be with all them that love 
our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen." This is the 
noble disposition by which a Christian is to be 
actuated ; it is this that is to distinguish him 
from the votaries of superstition, the subjects 
of fanatical fury, and the lovers of blood. Cul- 
tivate, therefore, this spirit of charity. Let 
the ministers of various talents, the adherents 
of different denominations, so long as they hold 
the head, and believe the truth as it is in Jesus, 
be the objects of your regard. Yea, let not 
even an enemy, let not him that is in error, be 
the object of vengeance and persecution. Re- 
member that such is the peaceable nature of 
the religion of Jesus, that those who do not 
become her willing subjects, are nevertheless 
spared to enjoy the benefits of civil society, and 
to taste the blessings of a benign Providence. 
She puts into our hands no carnal weapons 
by which we are to strike terror into their 
minds ; nor establishes any laws by which 
they are to be interdicted from enjoying the 
blessings of life ; on the contrary, she teaches 
us to pray for them, to pity them, to do all we 
can for their present and final welfare. Cher- 
ish, therefore, a liberal, expansive spirit, that 
shall disdain the fetters of bigotry, rise superior 
to party zeal, pity a foe, smile upon a dissent- 
ing but conscientious brother, and wish well 
to all mankind. 

f4 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Cautions as to a worldly spirit. — Fashions. — Customs. 
— Dress. — Recreations. — Imprudence. — Unwatch- 
fulness. — Spiritual declension. 

It is the character of a true Christian that 
he is a stranger and pilgrim here on earth, de- 
siring a better country. He is called out of 
the world to take up his cross, deny himself, 
and follow the Redeemer through evil, as well 
as through good report. You will see, there- 
fore, dear reader, how incompatible a worldly 
spirit is with the Christian profession. We 
cannot serve God and the world at the same 
time, since these are contrary one to the other. 
11 The friendship of the world," we are told, " is 
enmity with God ; whosoever, therefore, will 
be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God." 
u Be not conformed," says the apostle, u to this 
world, but be ye transformed by the renewing 
of your mind, that ye may prove what is that 
good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." 
You are not, however, to understand by this 
that you are to be secluded entirely from society. 
It was superstition and ignorance that influ- 
enced men in former times to shut themselves 
up in monasteries and cloisters, and thus to bury 
themselves before they were dead. Neither has 
f5 



132 



CAUTIONS, 



ian to think of dwelling in ; how contrary to 
his best interests ; how inimical to his happi- 
ness. O how we forget ourselves when we 
wish to take up our abode in a situation where 
there are so many temptations, snares, foolish 
and hurtful lusts, which have drowned so 
many in destruction and perdition ! Shall we 
never learn to look up and see the signs by the 
way ? Here Samson the strong was over- 
come ; here David the pious was wounded ; 
here Jonah the prophet was bound captive ; 
here Peter the courageous was seduced and 
conquered. See, too, those professors who 
plunge themselves into the world : O how dead 
and cold ! How barren and unfruitful ! How 
thoughtless and unprofitable ! The closet is 
given up for the counting house ; family devo- 
tion for family diversion ; and too often the 
house of God for the house of merchandise. 

Beware, therefore, of listening to the voice 
of this charmer ; and as you now openly have 
professed to deny the world, affect not any 
likeness or resemblance to her in your spirit 
and principles. The world has its religion, so 
called, but it is counterfeit, vague, partial and 
lax. Its reasonings are false, its laws are un- 
scriptural, its sanctions are weak, and its influ- 
ence injurious. You have a better school, a 
wiser teacher, and superior principles. Dare 
to adhere, to avow, to practise them without 
fear or shame. Do not imitate them in their 
customs and fashions. Not that you should 
aim at singularity, for this shows weakness 



CAUTIONS. 



133 



and pride. Bat it is good to ask what will be 
convenient, rather than ornamental. As to 
apparel, pride appears in it, as one says, (C 1. 
When the matter of it is too costly. 2. When 
in the fashion you are desirous of imitating 
those that are above your rank ; or when you 
so fit your apparel as to make you seem high- 
er or richer than what you are. 3. When you 
are over curious in the matter, shape, or dress, 
and make a greater matter of it than you 
ought. 4. When your curiosity takes up 
more time in dressing than is due to so small 
a matter ; while far greater matters are ne- 
glected. 5. When you make too great a dif- 
ference between your private and your public 
habit, going plain when no strangers see you, 
and being excessively careful when you go 
abroad, or when strangers visit you." 

I would here say a word about recreations. 
And here again the world must not be imita- 
ted ; for their amusements are generally i 7 ain, 
wasteful of time and expense, and often pro- 
fane, brutal,* and ruinous. Religion, howev- 
er, does not prohibit relaxation, where some 

*Wlio could have thought, that, in this refined age, 
a statesman, in a Christian country, before an assem- 
bly of Protestants, could most earnestly defend the 
practice of bull-baiting, by saying, "That he thought 
there was less cruelty in bull-baiting, than in any oth- 
er amusement ; for both the bull and the dog experi- 
enced a pleasure in the contest?" Gluery, would 
this gentleman have been satisfied, supposing he had 
never any other pleasure than that which arises from 
pugilism or fighting a duel ? 



134 



CAUTIONS. 



valuable end is proposed. Reason claims re- 
lief from care : Religion answers, {< Take no 
thought for to-morrow," Nature craves help ; 
Religion says, " Take a little wine for thy 
stomach's sake." The laborious mind asks 
for repose : Religion says, "Why shouldst thou 
destroy thyself?" Necessity calls to unbend 
the reins of intense labor and activity : Relig- 
ion declares, " There is nothing better than 
that a man should make a soul enjoy good in 
his labor." Our amusements, however, must 
be rational, moderate, seasonable, cheap, health- 
ful, and never of that nature that would abso- 
lutely unfit us for duty. You will doubtless 
find many temptations here ; and it will be con- 
stantly reiterated in your ears by the surround- 
ing votaries for pleasure, that there is no harm. 
This they will apply to plays,* cards, midnight 
assemblies, gaming, and masquerades. But 
be sure to avoid them all, for they have the 
spots, of death upon them. Alas! how many 
have they reduced to poverty, chained to a 
sick bed, ruined their character, loaded them 
with guilt, and at last tossed them into the 
grave ! Flee, therefore, such beggarly pleas- 

* Plays. A poet, who made no great pretences to 
virtue, and who well knew the qualities of the thea- 
tre, writes thus : — 

" It would be endless to trace all the vice 
That from the pla\ house takes immediate rise; 
It is the unexhausted magazine 
That stocks the land With vanity and sin. 

By flourishing so long, 

Numbers have been undone, both old and young; 

And many hundred souls are now unblest, 

Which else had dif d in peace, and found eternal reil." 



CAUTIONS. 



135 



ures ; enjoy the blessings of life ; seek recrea- 
tion in that which is more manly, rational, and 
useful ; and know that godliness is profitable 
unto all things, having the promise of this life, 
and I hat which is to come * 

Again, beware of imprudence. This has 
been the bane of many young professors. A 
right judgment, or that which enables us to 
judge which is the best in the choice of ends 
and means, is of great utility, and highly desi- 
rable. Without this, we never shall be able 
to avoid extremes. There is nothing so dis- 
graceful as to have it said, " Such a young 
Christian has many excellencies, he is very 
zealous and active ; but there is always some- 
thing so imprudent, so forward, so out of place, 
that renders him offensive and disagreeable." 
Study, therefore, to obtain prudence ; for what- 
ever you have, if you are deficient in this, 
every thing will appear wanting. Whatever 
be a man's talents, situation, knowledge, con- 
nexions, or prospects, yet, if he be imprudent, 
he is exposed to the greatest evils. A man 
may be well proportioned, beautiful, strong, 
and healthy; and if he wants the faculty of 
vision, he is in danger of falling. So prudence 
may be considered as the eye of the mind, by 
which we see the evils that are to be avoided, 
the good that is to be obtained, and the best 
means to be used in both Tt is this that pre- 
vents things from being carried to an excess. 

* Sec 1 Tim. iv. 8. 



136 



CAUTIONS. 



Thus, for instance, without this, piety degen- 
erates into superstition, faith to presumption, 
zeal into rashness, and justice into cruelty. It 
was said of Charles XII. " that he had but one 
vice ; and that was carrying his virtues to an 
extreme." Prudence keeps every thing in or- 
der. The beauty of action is often lost by its 
being out of season. Thej 7 who do not ob- 
serve time, place, character, and circumstan- 
ces, generally produce the utmost confusion to 
themselves, and to all around them. They 
are always in trouble, complaining or com- 
plained of; and have to do over again a num- 
ber of times, what, if prudence had dictated, 
need but have been once done. " A prudent 
man," sa\<s Solomon, " looks well to his go- 
ing." He observes the various duties which 
devolve upon him, the manner in which they 
are to be discharged, the season when, and the 
probable consequences that must follow. Re- 
member, then, my dear reader, to all your 
knowledge you must join prudence. It is this 
that will make you shine as a member of civil 
society, render you capable of managing your 
temporal affairs with propriety, raise your 
credit and reputation in life, be a source of 
pleasure to yourself, adorn your profession as a 
Christian, and render you far more useful than 
you otherwise possibly could be. On the 
contrary, remember, none is so likely to be so 
dangerous, as the imprudent man. Let us 
draw his character, and then }'OU may sit 
down and contemplate how you may best 



CAUTIONS. 



137 



avoid imitating such a deformed picture. He 
is one who never thinks before he speaks : — 
whatever first comes across his mind, it is pro- 
claimed, without the least attention to time or 
place. He never descriminat.es characters, 
and seldom weighs opinions in the balance of 
deliberation. True, he is called good natured 
by many ; but it leads him to negligence of 
himself, and exposes him to the rapacity of 
others. He is fond of new connexions, and 
thinks the last he has formed are always the 
best. If a new plan strikes him of any kind, 
he precipitately goes to work, and, without 
considering the difficulties and costs, endeavors 
to raise the superstructure ; but he has no 
sooner done it, than he is told it answers but 
little purpose ; when he leaves it for others to 
write folly on the door. He is often silent 
when he should speak, and talkative when he 
should be silent. He is generally in the way 
when his company is not desired, and not to 
be found when his presence is requested. He 
has a memory to recollect things that nobody 
wants to know, and a readiness to make obser- 
vations on subjects no one wishes to hear. He 
never foresees the day of evil, nor ever prepares 
against the gathering storm. To give a fin- 
ishing stroke to his character, in the language 
of scripture, " he layelh open his folly, and this 
is his inheritance : he belicveth every word, 
passeth on his way, and is at last punished." 
Farther, beware of a careless, un watchful 
spirit. It is well to stand prepared for attacks 



13S 



CAUTIONS. 



from various quarters. We live in a world 
where we are exposed to continual vicissi- 
tudes. We know not what a day may bring 
forth. Man is born to trouble, and though we 
are not to increase it by anticipating it, yet it 
is the part of wisdom to prepare for it. It is 
of no consequence what our situations are in 
life, for it is all deception to imagine there is 
any one place this side the grave where the 
bitter streams do not sometimes flow. They 
reach as high as the throne, and extend as 
wide as the universe. The palace is inun- 
dated as well as the cottage ; nor does piety it- 
self exempt. " A good man is subject, like 
other mortals, to all the influences of natural 
evil ; his harvest is not spared by the tempest, 
nor his cattle, by the murrain ; his house 
flames like others, in a conflagration, nor have 
his ships any peculiar power of resisting hurri- 
canes."* Moreover, we are assured that 
" Many are the afflictions of the righteous ;" 
so that for you to escape, would only be to 
leave you without evidence of being of that 
number. Put on your armor, therefore, and 
pray that, whenever difficulties rise, you may 
receive them as from God ; bear them with 
patience and resignation to his will, and find 
them to yield the peaceful fruits of righteous- 
ness. Indeed, my dear reader, you need not 
be alarmed at trials when sanctified; they will 
prove your best friends. Yon may sometimes 

* Hawkeswon.li. 



C A t; T I O X s. 



139 



discern them advancing with unfriendly aspect, 
and you may wish them to pass by, or go to 
any door but your own : but if Providence 
command them to take up their abode with 
you for a season, you shall find them in the 
end 10 be messengers of God, commissioned to 
bring a treasure of grace to purify, instruct, 
and comfort your soul. 

But these natural evils will be no source of 
trouble, equal to the constant opposition of 
your spiritual foes. These you must perpetu- 
ally watch, for they are always watching you. 
In retirement, in public, in the world, in the 
church, in adversity, in prosperity, you must 
keep up your vigilance: your Thoughts, your 
words, your actions, your duties, must all be 
looked to. Especial]} 7 keep an eye to the 
weak side, for there the enemy is most busy. 
Is it your tongue that is apt to offend, set a 
guard at the door ; is it your passion that is 
easily affected, keep out of the way of that 
which would inflame it ; is your pride easily 
blown up, shun every thing that would excite 
it : and so whatever is the most dangerous 
part, there you have need to be most, vigilant. 
Remember, then, this important duty, and con- 
sider how much it comes recommended by the 
authority of scripture : c< Watch and pray, that 
ye enter not into temptation. Watch ye ; 
stand fast, in the faith ; quit you like men ; be 
strong. Watch and be sober. What I say 
unto you, I say unto all, Watch." 



140 



CAUTIONS. 



Lastly, beware of lukewarmness and declen- 
sions in the good way. Judging from your 
present feelings, perhaps you are ready to im- 
agine that you have no need of such a caution; 
but it is a wise exhortation given by the apos- 
tle, l{ Be not high minded, but fear." Let him 
that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he 
fall." Alas ! how many who set out all earn- 
estness and zeal, out-running almost every 
every one, and ready to reprove all around 
them, have lost their first love, and sunk into 
sad indifference. What strange forgetfnlness, 
what neglect of prayer, what slothfulness, 
what preference of worldly company, what 
neglect of God's word, what shunning of his 
people, what frivolous excuses, what back- 
wardness to engage in spiritual exercises, 
have marked their conduct ! Now consider 
what a dangerous and inconsistent state this 
is. What a reflection is it on the religion of 
Jesus Christ, as if it were not worthy the pur- 
suit of a rational creature, and yielded not suf- 
ficient pleasure to encourage us to walk ac- 
cording to its dictates. How unreasonable, 
that a man should be all life and activity for 
the world, all animation and concern for the 
things of time, and should be indifferent and 
careless as to the important affairs of religion 
and his immortal soul. How replete with 
misery is such a state ! In the world, con- 
science embitters every enjoyment ; in the 
church, languor becomes a barrier both to im- 
provement and felicity. Neither heaven, nor 



CAUTIONS. 



141 



earth, God nor man, will afford such a charac- 
ter real happiness, while in such a state. God 
himself, who is merciful to the penitent, a fa- 
ther to the poor, a refuge to the needy, a sup- 
port to the afflicted, a friend to the persecuted, a 
consolation to the tempted soul, has no asylum 
for the lukewarm. How disgraceful, also, is 
such a spirit, and what immense injury is it 
likely to do in the world. It has a tendency 
to encourage the infidel in his principles, the 
sceptic in his doubts, and the wicked in their 
practice. Indeed, every lukewarm Christian 
is a consolatory preacher to the wicked ; and 
what do such say in effect but this ? " There 
is little or nothing in your system : go on in 
your practices of licentiousness and careless- 
ness about God and religion. It is of little im- 
portance which side you are engaged ; it will 
all be the same in the end." Yes, these are 
the fatal sermons they preach ; and what ren- 
ders them of greater effect is, that they are not 
merely verbal, but actually exhibited and 
preached in the conduct. O miserable char- 
acters, thus to wound the Son of God afresh, 
and put him to open shame ! Well might God 
say to such, " Wretch ! I never should have 
had this dishonor, if thou hadst never been 
called a Christian. Thou art a Christian to 
no purpose, or to a very bad one : it does thee 
no good, and injures me."* 

*Ho\ve. 



142 



CAUTIONS. 



There is nothing, then, my dear reader, that 
I feel more necessary to caution you against, 
than this, and that because there is nothing 
more injurious. Afflictions may depress your 
spirits, sickness may fill your body with pain, 
persecution and reproach may cut off many of 
your comforts, friends maj r change into ene- 
mies, bereavements may affect your feelings, 
poverty may visit yout dwelling ; but be as- 
sured, these are all mercies, when compared to 
lukewarmness. Yes, you may say, " Lord, 
let me suffer anything rather than be under the 
influence of such a spirit. Take away any 
comfort ; inflict any cross ; disappoint my 
schemes ; throw me into obscurity ; surround 
me with ten thousand natural evils ; yea, per- 
mit me to fall into the grave, rather than I 
should constantly live in such a frame, to dis- 
honor thee, impede thy work, and bring dis- 
tress upon my own soul." 

In order to be preserved from this evil, watch 
against the first symptoms. If any business, 
company, books, pleasures of a worldly nature, 
have this tendency, avoid them all. If your 
situation in life expose you to this, if you can- 
not live in it without bringing guilt upon your 
conscience, you are warranted to look out for 
another, where at least you may meet with 
less temptation. And though you must ever 
remember that you carry the greatest cause of 
lukewarmness about with you, and that you 
must not be given to change merely from a 



CAUTIONS. 



143 



wandering disposition, yet you certainly do 
well to inquire for those situations where you 
can best serve God, and maintain communion 
with him. In every place, you have to lament 
over 3'our little fervor and secret declensions ; 
but it is of the greatest importance to be kept 
from that increasing, open, and awful state of 
indifference, that leads to the omission of duty 
and the practice of sin. Make use of all the 
means of grace, and carefully observe the di- 
rections and cautions here given you, that you 
may never be unhappily one of them who dis- 
honor their profession, and cause the enemies 
of truth to blaspheme; but that, on the con- 
trary, your light may shine, your zeal burn, 
your activity increase, and you at last found 
waiting to enter into that rest, which remains 
for the people of God. 

And now, dear reader, one thing I must beg 
leave to impress upon your mind ; and that is, 
in all the directions and cautions I have sug- 
gested, look up to God for the assistance of his 
grace, to enable you carefully to observe, re- 
member, and put them into practice. Re- 
nounce, entirely renounce, all dependence upon 
your own strength. Without him, you can do 
nothing. It is he that worketh in us both to 
will and to do of his good pleasure. He has 
promised to give his Holy Spirit to them who 
ask him. Implore, therefore, his blessing ; re- 
new your supplications constantly before him. 
11 He gives power to the faint, and to them that 



144 



CAUTIONS. 



have might he increaseth strength. They that 
wait upon the Lord snail renew their strength ; 
they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; 
they shall run, and not be weary ; and they 
shall walk, and not faint." 



CHAPTER IX. 

Discouragements to be expected. — Sin a source of 
sorrow. — Excessive grief improper. — Despondency, 
reasons against. — Vain thoughts common to the 
best. — Awful scriptures explained. — Unpardonable 
sin stated, — Small degree of knowledge, and mean- 
ness of talents, no ground for dejection. — Satan's 
insinuations, consolations against. — Persecution an 
honor. — Variety of opinions and preachers not to 
be considered strange. — Conduct of some professors 
discouraging. — Apostates, lessons to be learnt from. 
— Desertion. — Fear of death. 

Having in the preceding chapters offered 
some directions and cautions, I shall now pro- 
ceed to state, and endeavor to remove, the dis- 
couragements which naturally arise ; for 
though many, on their first entrance into the 
divine life, experience a considerable degree of 
sacred joy, yet others are much depressed; and 
even those who at first were so happy, soon 
find their frames change, and difficulties rise 
up before them which they did not expect. — 
Indeed, it is no wonder that they are the sub- 
jects of sorrow and grief, when we consider the 
change that has taken place. While men are 
in an unconverted state, they have neither 
spiritual perception nor feeling. They are 
said not only to be dark, but dead. Now it is 
the prooerty of grace to impart both light and 

Gl 



146 



DISCOURAGEMENTS 



sensibility. When man awakes from this 
awful state of death and ignorance, and takes 
a survey of himself, and of the obligations he 
is under to God, he is filled with the deepest 
remorse to find that his nature is so corrupt, 
that his affections have been so misplaced, that 
his will has been inclined to evil, and that con- 
tinually. You, my dear reader, may be now 
laboring under much distress on this account. 
Your heart bleeds at the thought of your for- 
mer transgressions. It is grievous to you to 
think how you have offended and insulted the 
God who made you ; and you are almost ready 
to doubt whether you, who have been such a 
sinner, can be the object ot divine favor. Now 
it is not improper that you should feel, that 
you should be sorrowful for sin ; for this is 
characteristic of the true penitent. They shall 
come, it is said, with weeping and with suppli- 
cations. They shall look upon him whom 
they have pierced, and mourn. They go forth 
weeping^ and sow in tears* But excess of 
grief becomes injurious to the body, and hurt- 
ful to the soul, and hence when indulged in is 
both unreasonable and sinful. A broken and 
a contrite heart, we are assured, God will not 
despise, but is what he regards more than all 
the pomp of outward ceremony, the glare of 
shining talents, or the treasures of deep and 
extensive knowledge. But he never designed, 
and no where commands that we should so 

* Jcr. xxxi. 9. Zecli. xii. 10. Psalms cxxvi. 5. 



C O K S I 1) E R E D. 



147 



grieve as to distract the mind, subvert reason, 
unfit ourselves for the discharge of duty, render 
us insensible to our mercies, blind us to the 
promises, and make others miserable around 
us. On the contrary, he has repeatedly com- 
manded us to rejoice, and his authority is 
equally as binding on us, in this duty, as enay 
other. Turn to the Bible, and observe the in- 
junctions. " Rejoice in the Lord, O ye right- 
eous, for praise is comely for the upright. — 
Rejoice in the Lord always ; and again I say> 
rejoice. Glory ye in his holy name : let the 
heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Let 
nil those who put their trust in thee, rejoice; 
let them ever shout for joy, because thou de = 
fendest them ; let them also that love thy name 
be joyful in thee." Read these passages, and 
then ask how far it is your duty to refuse all 
comfort, to dwell perpetually in the vale of 
sorrow, to touch none but the string of grief 
Rather is it not jour duty to arise, to take 
your harp from the willow, to sing to the 
praise of grace divine, and to go on your way 
rejoicing, blessing, and praising God ? 

But you may be ready to object, and say, 
you have great reason to despond. Your case, 
is singular. Your transgressions ore more 
numerous, aggravated, and of longer continu- 
ance than others. But granting even this to 
be the case, you should be cautious of giving 
way to despair. Consider the nature and evil 
of this disposition. Is it not a reflection upon 
his power, a disbelief of his mercy, a denial of 

G C 2 



148 



DISCOURAGEMENTS 



his goodness, a rejection of all the kind prom- 
ises he has given 1 What ! do all the various 
declarations of God's compassion stand for 
nothing ? Are all the affecting and interesting 
descriptions of Christ's relations and offices 
mere names, which have no meaning ? Are 
the rich promises of pardon and mercy to be 
doubted 1 Are all the instances of converting 
grace recorded in scripture to be overlooked 
and to have no effect % Can } T ou actually 
oppose all your fears, despair, and doubts, to 
these encouragements ? Can you stand up 
before God, and dare say to him, that however 
he has saved others, there is no probability of 
his saving you % Consider that you act in 
this directly against his plain commands. Has 
he any where ordered you to despond? but 
has he not, in multiplied passages, commanded 
you to hope, to trust, to believe?* Vile as 
you rnajr feel yourself to be, read}' as despair 
is to seize you, can you solemnly say in the 
sight of God, " Well, I feel no desire to love 
him ; I can with the utmost composure reject 
his word. I care not if ever I am again the 
associate of his people. His ordinances are no 
pleasure, his day is no delight to my soul: I 
can most cheerfully renounce all, and go back 
again into the world ?" O how you tremble 
at the thought ! Unworthy as yo\i are, you 
dare not, you cannot use such language. No ; 

* Psalms xxvii. 14. Psalms xxxvii. 3,5. Prov. 
iii. 5, 6. John iii. 1G. 



CONSIDERED. 



149 



your desire is to love him and the remem- 
brance of his name ; and ask, did he ever give 
such a desire to leave it ungratified? Shall it 
ever be said, here is a poor soul longing, and 
crying, and waiting, and praying to be saved, 
and tli at God will not save him? In all the 
history of the Bible, in all the history of the 
church, in all the memoirs, and lives, and ex- 
periences of the children of men, from the be- 
ginning down to the present da}', is there one 
such instance to be found ? No, not one. Men 
have fallen into the hands of those whom they 
have offended, and though promised pardon, 
yet have been punished. They have looked 
to a friend in the time of calamity, and been 
disappointed. They have placed the greatest 
confidence on the most intimate relations, and 
have been betra}*ed ; but no poor, miserable, 
lost, sinner, ever made God his trust, and was 
confounded. Is it your complaint to him, 
" Lord, I am sorely troubled with this wicked 
heart. This corruption robs me of all my com- 
fort. This temptation pursues me in every 
place. I have no peace because of sin. O 
that. I could but obtain deliverance; that the 
inare might but be broken : that I might but 
curjoy the liberty of thy people; then should 1 
be more happy, than if 1 were in possession of 
all the glittering wealth of this world." Well, 
be not. discouraged. It is the petition of his 
own framing, and he will surclj' answer it. — 
But you are the subject, you say, of such 
strange, vain, infidel, blasphemous thougl 
g3 



150 



DISCOURAGEMENTS 



that you know not how to think there is any 
good work in you. This may be ; and if you 
consult others, you will find they have reason 
to complain of the same thing. A celebrated 
minister tells us, in the account of his experi- 
ence, how he was troubled in this respect. u I 
was infested," says he, " with thoughts so 
monstrously obscene and blasphemous, that 
they cannot be spoken, nor so much as hinted, 
and I believe such as hardly ever entered into 
the heart of any other man ; though I am sen- 
sible that most of God's children are sometimes 
attacked in like manner. But mine were foul 
and black beyond example, and seemed to be 
the master-pieces of hell." So that you see you 
are not the only one who suffers in this way. 

But you are distressed, perhaps, by the con- 
sideration of some passages of scripture which 
you think entirely condemn you. Thus, that 
passage, " He that doubteth* is damned if he 

* This passage was a source of trouble in another 
way, to Miss Anthony. "My distress," says she, 
" increased until the necessaries of life grew tasteless; 
and here Satan set in to persuade me [ had sinfully 
indulged my appetite. When I attempted to eat, it 
would be suggested that I was then increasing my 
condemnation ; and while I was under this tempta- 
tion, I met with these words : "He that doubteth is 
damned if he eat!" I did not consider it had no ref- 
erence to our daily common food, but what was offered 
to idols; but the tempter would persuade me it was 
my case, just, for I was convinced it was a sin, and 
yet went on. I was almost ready to give up and 
wholly abstain, rather than endure that distress of 
mind which every morsel I took occasioned." — See 
her Life, p. 33 — 39. 



CONSIDERED. 



151 



oat," you have been led to think, has sentenced 
you to final condemnation, because you have 
sometimes done that, which afterwards you 
doubted the propriety of. But it is necessary 
to observe that this word, here rendered damned i 
properly signifies condemned; that is, by a 
man's own conscience, when he doth what that 
tells him, or at least suspects is wrong. But 
this has no reference to eternal damnation, any 
farther than all actings against conscience ex- 
poses one to it.* 

Another passage has most probably affect ed 
your mind, and that is what is said of Esau, 
' That afterward, when he would have inher- 
ited the blessing, he was rejected ; for he 
found no place of repentance, though he sought 
it carefully with tears ;" and from this text you 
are sometimes afraid that your repentance may 
be too late. But in answer to this it has been 
properly observed, that " it is true that Esau's 
time for the blessing was past, as soon as Isaac 
had given it to Jacob. When he had sold his 
birthright, it was too late to recall it, for the 
right was made over to his brother ; and it was 
not repentance, and crie3, and tears, that could 
recall the right he had sold, nor recall the 
words that Isaac had spoken : but this does not 
prove that our day of grace does not continue 
till death, or that, any man repenting before his 
death, shall be rejected as Esau's repentance 
was. The apostle neither says nor means any 

* Guysc in loc. 

o4 



152 



DISCOURAGEMENTS 



such thing. The sense of his word is only 
thus much : Take heed lest any set so light by 
the blessings of the gospel, as to part with 
them for a base lust or transitory thing, as 
Esau set more by a morsel of meat than by his 
birthright." 

Bat what, perhaps, most of all affects you, 
is, that you sometimes think you have sinned 
against the Holy Ghost. You read that this 
sin will never be forgiven ;•* and that if we sin 
wilfully after we have received the knowledge 
of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice 
for sins. 

But by this unpardonable sin you must un- 
derstand is meant an absolute denial and total 
rejection of Christ and his gospel, by those who 
retain their obstinacy and malice to the end. 
and never repent. Such have no fears, no 
feeiings of compunction, no desires whatever to 
believe in, or receive the truth ; and thus re- 
jecting the only sacrifice for sins, of course, as 
the apostle says, there remains no other. Now 
how can this be your case? You, who see 
more excellency in Jesus than in any other ob- 
ject whatever ? You, whose desire it is every 
day to glorify him, and unreservedly devote 

*This is a very common thought of young Christ- 
ians. I know a minister who said, that, when he was 
a school boy, he remembered cursing the Bible. This 
circumstance was brought so fresh to his remembrance 
some years afterwards, when he was awakened, that 
he was fearful he had committed this sin, until he 
was relieved by conversation with a friend. 



CONSIDERED. 



153 



yourself to him ? You, who, if you were to be 
asked what is your request, could say, " Lord, 
that I may know, and fear, and love thee; that 
thou mayestbe mine ; and that my body, soul, 
and spirit, may be consecrated to thy praise ; 
that while I live, I may live to thee, and when 
I die, I may dwell forever with thee." No hyp- 
ocrite, no one that is deceived, no one that is 
under the influence of the power of darkness, 
can ever possess such feelings, experience such 
desires, or sincerely express such ardent wishes 
to be with and to be like the Saviour. 

Again, you are discouraged, also, because 
of the small degree of knowledge you possess. 
But this is every way unreasonable. It can- 
not be expected that you should have the 
knowledge and experience of those who have 
been longer in the way. Nor are you in the 
least to be disheartened on this account. The 
first dawn of the morning evidences that there 
is a sun, as much as if you already saw it with 
your own eyes. The appearance of the blade 
proves the existence of the vital seed, as well 
as the ear and the full corn in the ear. Our 
Lord compares the work of grace to a grain of 
mustard seed, which is the least of all seed ; 
but after it is grown, it is the greatest among 
herbs. Do not overlook, therefore, the day of 
small things, and imagine that your knowledge 
is not genuine because it is not extensive. The 
smallest portion of real grace is of more value 
than all the works of God in creation beside ; 
for these arc only the works of his hands, but 
o5 



154 



DISCOURAGEMENT* 



this is part of the image of himself. ■■! It is a 
greater mercy to give the first grace of con- 
version, than to crown that grace with glory. 
As it is more grace and condescension in a 
prince to betroth one of his poorest subjects, 
than afterwards to clothe her like a princess.' 7 
Instead of lamenting, therefore, that you have 
not all the wisdom, the experience, as others, 
rejoice and be thankful that God has given you 
any light ; that you are not what you once 
were ; and that though you cannot boast, nor 
say much, yet this you can say, " one thing I 
know ; that whereas I was blind, now I see." 
You may sometimes also be cast down be- 
cause of the meanness of your talents. " Per- 
haps/' as one says, " when you hear others, 
with what liberty they pray, how able to dis- 
course of the things of God ; you are ready to 
go into a corner and mourn, to think how weak 
your memory, how dull your apprehension, how 
straitened your spirit, hardly able (though in 
secret) to utter and express your mind to God 
in prayer. O you are ready to think those the 
happy men and women, and almost murmur at 
your condition. But though you have not 
words as they, yet if you have faith, if every 
sermon you hear makes you hate sin and love 
Christ more, have you not the better part ? — 
You little think what a mercy may be wrapt 
up, even in the meanest of your gifts ; or what 
temptations their gifts expose them to, which, 
perhaps, God in mercy has denied you. Jo- 
seph's coat made him finer than all his breth- 



CONSIDERED. 



155 



ren ; but this caused all his trouble. Thus, 
great gifts lift up a saint a little higher in the 
eyes of men, but occasion many temptations 
which they meet not with who are kept low. 
None, perhaps, find so hard a work to go to 
heaven as such ; they have much ado to bear 
up against the winds and waves, while you 
creep along the shore under the wind. It is 
with such as with some great lord of little es- 
tate : a meaner man oft hath money in his 
purse when he hath none, and can lend his 
lordship some when he needs. Great gifts and 
parts are titles of honor among men ; but many 
such may come and borrow grace and comfort 
of a mean-gifted brother. Do not, therefore, 
murmur, or envy them, but rather pity and pray 
for them : they need it more than others ; their 
gifts are for others, but thy grace is for thy- 
self."* 

Satan, that great enemy of souls, perhaps 
sorely tries you. He insinuates that the ser- 
vice, in which you are engaged, will be found 
hard and unpleasant ; that you will soon be 
glad to relinquish it ; that the word of God re- 
quires some things too hard to be performed, 
and proposes others too strange to be believed. 
Or, it may be, he suggests that there is no sin- 
cerity in your professions ; that the experience 
you talk of is the effect of imagination ; that 
the change taken place is nothing but fickle- 
ness and novelty ; and that, after all, there i3 

* Gurnall. 

06 



156 



DISCOURAGEMENTS 



no real difference between your present and 
former state. Or perhaps he endeavors to spoil 
your devotions by vile and blasphemous sug- 
gestions ; or to represent to you all your past 
sins as too enormous to be pardoned. The 
apostle tells us of h\s fiery darts ^ and these, prob- 
ably* you feel : they wound deeply; they cre- 
ate much pain ; they infuse a deadly poison. 
He knows how to take an advantage of the 
weakness of your faith, the smallness of your 
knowledge, the contracted nature of your ex- 
perience ; yea, he transforms himself into an 
angel of light, will quote scriptures, and thus 
"borrow God's bow to shoot his arrows at us." 
But here remember you are not alone ; Adam 
in paradise, Christ in the wilderness, are alike 
the objects of his temptations. None can go 
to heaven without being exposed to his wiles 
and subtleties. Besides, the representations of 
an enemy never render things to be what they 
really are. He is an accuser of the brethren, 
but it goes for nothing in the sight of God. — 
li Rose-water is not the less sweet, because 
wormwood is written upon the glass." The 
Lord knoweth his own, and he will take care 
to keep them safe. To him, therefore, you 
must look ; " He shall shortly bruise Satan 
under your feet." 

Your relations and friends may be also ready 
to oppose you ; and this is a great ground of 
discouragement. They set you up, perhaps, 
as a laughing stock ; they look upon you as 
weak and fanatical ; they try all they can, 



Considered. 



15? 



either to frighten you out of your sentiments, or 
on the other hand to allure you into worldly 
pleasures. Ridicule and friendship, satire and 
affection, reproach and flattery, will alternately 
exert their influence to draw you aside. But 
none of these things ought to discourage you ; 
no, not even if you should be cast out from 
among them for the sake of the truth : for thus 
they treated the Lord of life and glory before 
you. " He was despised and rejected of men ; 
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; 
and we hid, as it were, our faces from him."— 
Your's, then, is the glory and honor of being a 
partaker of his sufferings ; your's the privilege 
of enduring shame for his name's sake ; your's 
the distinction of coming out from the world, 
and bearing reproach for the cross ; and your's 
the happiness to receive the benediction pro- 
nounced by the Saviour himself on his suffer- 
ing disciples, " Blessed are ye when men shall 
revile you, and shall persecute you, and shall 
say all manner of evil against you falsely, for 
my name's sake. Rejoice and be exceeding 
glad, for great is your reward in heaven." In 
the midst, therefore, of all the frowns of men, 
the unkindness of relatives, the opprobrium 
of the world, you may stand unmoved, and 
sing, 

"I 'm not ashamed to own my Lord, 

Or to defend his cause; 
Maintain the honor of his word, 

The glory of his cross. 



i^8 DISCOURAGEMENTS 

Jesus, my God, I know his name, 

His name is all my trust ; 
Nor will he put my soul to shame, 

Nor let my hope be lost." 

But as you pass on, you ma}' sometimes be 
confounded and discouraged by the variety of 
religious sects, preachers, opinions, and dis- 
putes, that abound in the world. But this 
should be no hindrance ; for since the world 
began, men have always differed in their senti- 
ments. A vast variety of sects originate from 
the pride, ignorance, and self-conceit, of those 
who choose rather to set up their own opinions, 
than abide by the sacred oracles, the only sure 
guide. Other denominations, indeed, exist, 
who pretend to take the Bible as their rule, but 
only mutilate, select, and refuse, what they 
think proper. There are other sects who, in 
the main points of doctrine, differ but little, or 
not at all, but }'et do not agree in their views 
of some things of minor importance, and unes- 
sential to salvation. With the Bible in your 
hand, and a dependence on the divine blessing, 
you need not be afraid. Your business is with 
no sect, as such, but with truth ; and truth 
will be found of those who assiduously seek 
her. There are many difficulties, indeed, in 
the way, and many, after all, are deceived ; 
but then it is because they are either indolent 
or prejudiced. " There are few," says the 
great Stillingrleet, " that look after truth with 
their own eyes ; most make use of glasses of 
others' making, which make them so seldom 



CONSIDERED. 



159 



behold the proper lineaments in the face of 
truth ; which the several tinctures from edu- 
cation, authority, custom, and predisposition, 
do exceedingly hinder men from discerning of." 
Memorable are the words of our Lord, " If any 
man will do his will, he shall know of the doc- 
trine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak 
of myself." Affection for the truth, and appli- 
cation in seeking it, will be sure to obtain it.- — 
In the midst of all the jarring opinions of men, 
the modest inquirer, the devotional spirit, the 
biblical disciple, will not fail to be right. " For 
if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up 
thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest 
her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid 
treasures ; then shalt thou understand the fear 
of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God : 
for the Lord giveth wisdom, and out of his 
mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." 
Again, you may be discouraged from the 
strange conduct of some who make a profession 
of Christianity. Some hypocrites may deceive 
you, some talkative professors perplex, and 
some forward characters prove a stumbling 
block to you. This is what you did not ex- 
pect. You thought every thing was love, sin- 
cerity, peace, truth, among those who profess 
Christianity : but, alas ! you have been mis- 
taken, and it. has filled you with astonishment 
that there should be any such deceptions in 
matters of such great consequence. But if 
you consider a little, nothing is more to be ex- 
pected than this. The more valuable a thing 



ICO 



DISCOURAGEMENTS 



is, the more numerous are its counterfeits. — 
Now religion is the best thing ; it is the off- 
spring of Deity, the child of heaven, the orna- 
ment of man, the perfection of reason, the bond 
of society, and the soul of happiness. Is it 
any wonder, therefore, that it should sometimes 
be counterfeited, where interest is concerned ? 
that men should make pretences to it, and en- 
deavor to enrobe themselves with some of its 
beautiful garments, to make them appear ac- 
ceptable to others 1 Our Lord gives sufficient 
caution agains-t this, when he says, " Beware 
of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's 
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening 
wolves." Let not this, therefore, discourage 
you. Religion stands on the same ground ; 
she remains immutable; and her faithful ad- 
herents are not to be accounted less worthy of 
your regard and imitation, because of the art- 
ful devices and inconsistent conduct of her 
pretended friends. 

As to apostates, it will be affecting to } r ou, 
to consider their awful conduct, and their mis- 
erable end ; but instead of discouraging, let it 
animate you to go forward, and to be more de- 
pendant on divine grace. God has set up some 
of these by the way, as a warning to others. — 
As you pass along, you may behold the gloom}' 
monuments of an Achan, a Lot's wife, a Ge- 
hazi, a Saul, an Annanias, and Saphira, and 
a Judas ; on which you may read the awful 
inscription, " If any man draw back, my soul 
shall have no pleasure in him." And while 



CONSIDERED. 



161 



you read, let it excite you to examine yourself, 
and to say, " O Lord, hold thou me up, and I 
shall be safe. Order my steps in thy word, 
and let not iniquity have dominion over me. — 
Keep me as the apple of thine eye, and hide 
me under the shadow of thy wings. O that 
my ways may be directed to keep thy stat- 
utes ; let me never wander from thy command- 
ments ; but be preserved blameless unto the 
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Amen. 

You may, my dear reader, be greatly de- 
pressed under the hidings of God's face. The 
best are not always in the same frame. Holy 
Job knew what this was by experience, when 
he said, " O that I knew where I might find 
him, that I might come even to his seat; I 
would order my cause before him, 1 would fill 
my mouth with arguments." David com- 
plains of this deseriion, and prays that " God 
may lift up the light of his countenance upon 
him." This is indeed a sore trial. To have 
the joys of God's salvation suspended, to walk 
in darkness and have no light, to find little or 
no comfort in the exercises of duty, to feel a 
kind of deadness and stupor of mind, to lose 
those pleasant impressions we had at first, to 
derive little or no benefit from public ordinan- 
ces, and to find but little satifaction even from 
the word and promises of God ; this, of all sit- 
uations, is the most painful to a serious mind. 
Then it is that we lose our evidence of the di- 
vine favor, and begin to think we have neither 
part nor lot in the matter. Then the enemy 



1(32 



DISCOURAGEMENTS 



takes the advantage, and we are ready to ask, 
" if I am a Christian, how can it be that I am 
thus so dark and lifeless 1 why such a barren 
frame, such cold desires, such unbelief, such 
strange thoughts, such lukewarm affections ? 
Alas ! where is my former zeal and activity, 
my delight in God's house and people, and 
those pleasant and transportating exercises of 
mind I so lately felt % O that it were as in 
days past, when the candle of the Lord shone 
upon my head, and when by his light I 
walked through darkness !" These, perhaps, 
may be your feelings, although } r ou may not 
have been many months in the good way. — 
The bright sunshine, with which you were 
first favored, may be changed for clouds and 
darkness, and you may feel a painful surprize, 
that your joys have so suddenly departed from 
you. Now while you carefully endeavor to 
trace the cause, do not imagine that God is 
changed in his purpose toward you. Some- 
times these depressions arise from the state of 
the body, from something unpleasant in tem- 
poral circumstances, or from distracting cares, 
which much affect the mind. But supposing, 
as is probably the case, that guilt is contract- 
ed ; or that your conscience, which is now 
awakened, has charged you with something 
that you did not before take cognizance of; 
then even this, instead of driving you to despair, 
should be rather considered as a token for good. 
What an infinite mercy it is, that now you can- 
not rest when God's Spirit is grieved ; that 



C OI?31DER£ D. 



103 



now a sense of one single defection from duty 
actually gives you more uneasiness than the 
whole of your rebellious conduct ever gave 
you while in a natural state ! While you look 
up to God, therefore, for his pardoning mercy, 
and implore his gracious help, to enable you 
to lay aside every weight, and the sin that 
easily besets you, O be thankful that your con- 
science is not seared ; that you are not given 
up to judicial hardness of heart; that if God 
hath hid his face from you, it is to humble you 
in the dust; to wean you from self and the 
world ; to place your confidence more in him ; 
to make you less dependant on your own 
frames and feelings ; to quicken you in the 
paths of righteousness, and excite in you, 
greater desires for the heavenly world. Sor- 
row not, therefore, as if you had lost your God, 
because you have lost your comfort. " He 
will turn again, he will have compassion." It 
is his voice that says, " Is Ephraim my dear 
son ? is he a pleasant child ? Since I spake 
against him, I do earnestly remember him still ; 
therefore my bowels are troubled for him. I 
will surely have mercy upon him, saiih the 
Lord." 

Lastly, the fear of death ma}' sometimes op- 
erate greatly to your discouragement. But 
how unreasonable is it to suppose that he who 
has done such great things for you ; has 
brought you to see yourself as a condemned 
sinner, to taste his love, to find happiness in 
him as the chief good, and most ardently to de- 



164 



DISCOURAGEMENTS 



sire to be his forever ; I say, how unreasona- 
ble, and does it not reflect upon God's kind- 
ness and mercy, to suppose that he will leave 
you when you most stand in need of his help? 
You, perhaps, with a busy imagination, attach 
to death a thousand unpleasant circumstances : 
the gloomy thoughts of leaving friends, ming- 
ling with the dust, relinquishing your choicest 
comforts here, and all the apparatus of a sol- 
emn funeral, so occupy the mind, as to prevent 
you from considering the glory that awaits } T ou 
beyond the grave. But what have you to do 
with such melancholy thoughts ? These are 
things which, as j t ou will not be sensible of, 
when they take place, so they should never af- 
fect your mind now while you live. Epicurus 
could say, " Death, which is accounted the 
most dreadful of all evils, is nothing to us, be- 
cause, while we are in being, death is not yet 
present ; and when death is present, we are not 
in being: so that it neither concerns us living 
or dead. Shall heathens (as Mr Howe ob- 
serves) comfort themselves upon so wretched a 
ground, with a little sophistry and the hope of 
extinguishing all desire of immortality; and 
shall not we derive comfort by cherishing this 
blessed hope of enjoying shortly an immortal 
glory ?" 

Think, too, my dear reader, how God in 
general supports his people in that trying mo- 
ment. What numberless instances might be 
quoted, of faith triumphing in a dying hour ! 
Let us here only select a few for the encourage- 



CONSIDERED. 



1C5 



merit of your hope, and as an antidote to your 
fear. Mr Edward Deering, a little before his 
death, said to his friends, £: as for my death, I 
bless God I feel and find so much inward joy 
and comfort in my soul, that if I were put to 
my choice, whether I would live or die. I would 
a thousand times rather choose death than life, 
if it may stand with the holy will of God." — 
The famous Mr Durham, being visited in his 
last sickness, which was long and lingering, 
who said to him, " Sir, I hope you have set all 
in order, that you have nothing to do but to 
die." " 1 bless God," said he, " I have not had 
that to do neither, these many years." But 
what say you to the dying experience of some 
young Christians ? When one who departed 
this life about eleven years of age,* was asked 
by his father, " How can you bear to leave 
your diversions, and all the pretty things you 
have had in the world'?" he said, with his 
hands and eyes lifted up, "Thousands, thou- 
sands of worlds, are not like going to Jesus :" 
and when told that probably he would die that 
week, he added, u That's right ; I wish I may. 
L want to go to Jesus and my dear brother." — 
Another not so old,')" whose sufferings were 
uncommonly severe for many months, was nev- 
er heard to complain : among a number of ques- 
tions proposed, to which he gave the most sat- 
isfactory answers, he was asked, if he was 

f J. Steven, of Camberwcll, who died at the age oi" 
eight years and eight months. 
* Jonathan Cope, of Ashted. 



106 



DISCOURAGEMENTS, JLc. 



afraid of dying ? he said, " No." " Why ?"— 
" Because Jesus is with me." " Why do you 
think Jesus will be with you when you die ?" 
" Because he has said he will." And when 
the trying moment came, he said, with consid- 
erable emphasis, ' c He is with me." 

Learn, then, to trust a faithful God; live to 
him while he gives you health and strength ; 
find when it is his will you should draw near 
the gates of death, confide in his goodness : for 
what he hath said, that will he perform. Read 
his word ; treasure up in your memory the kind 
declarations of his love ; and remember that 
the Saviour himself died to take away the 
sting. You may therefore look into the grave, 
and exclaim, " O death, where is thy sting? 
O grave, where is thy victory ? Thanks be to 
God, who giveth us the victory through our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 



CHAPTER X. 

Encouragement from the promises. — Examples. — Ev- 
idences of Grace. — Prospects. — Eternal life. — Con- 
cluding- address tc the unconverted. 

As the sacred scriptures contain sublime 
doctrines and suitable precepts for the estab- 
lishment and conduct of true believers, so they 
abound, also, with great encouragement and 
consolation under all the various and trying 
scenes of life ; and what deserves our attention, 
is, that the promises are not made only to the 
strong, but to the weak ; so that we are not 
prohibited from appropriating them to our- 
selves, because we have not the same degree 
of faith, knowledge, or comfort as others. The 
Bible is designed for the children and 3 T oung 
men in God 7 s school, as well as the more expe- 
rienced fathers in Christ. If you complain of 
your darkness, here is light ; of your weak- 
ness, here is strength ; of your crosses, here is 
comfort ; of your poverty, here are riches ; of 
your disappointments in this world, here is 
certainty and security. In the midst of every 
discouragement, therefore, look here. The 
promises are suitable, copious, explicit, free, 
and sure to be accomplished. Is it a sense of 
your depravity that fills you with grief; that 
breaks your heart and humbles you continual- 



168 



YOUNG CHRISTIANS 



ly ? behold the promise : " To this man will I 
look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite 
spirit, and trembleth at my word." Is it afflic- 
tion that is permitted to come upon you, threat- 
ening to swallow up all your comfort ? behold 
a promise : "Call upon me in the day of trouble, 
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." 
Is it reproach and opposition to which you are 
exposed 2 behold a promise : " Thou shalt be 
hid from the scourge of the tongue, and no 
weapon formed against thee shall prosper." Is 
it temptation that harrasses and torments you? 
behold a promise : (C God is faithful, who will 
not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are 
able, but will with the temptation also make a 
way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 
Is it poverty and indigence that you dread ? 
behold a promise : " The young lions do lack 
and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord 
shall not want any good thing." Is it depres- 
sion of spirits, or darkness of mind that has fal- 
len upon you % behold a promise : " For a 
small moment have I forsaken thee, but with 
great mercies will I gather thee. In a little 
wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, 
but with everlasting kindness will I have mer- 
cy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." Do 
you fear you shall not be able to persevere to 
the end 1 behold a promise : " Who shall also 
confirm you unto the end, that ye may be 
blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
Is it the thought of death that strikes you with 
terror? behold a promise: { I will ransom 



ENCOURAGEMENT. 



169 



them from the power of the grave ; I will re- 
deem them from death. O death, I will be thy 
plagues ; O grave, I will be thy destruction." 
Come, then, and read these delightful declara- 
tions, and ask, how can I despond with such 
incentives to hope, such grounds of encourage- 
ment, such antidotes to fear, such motives to 
patience, and such calls for confidence in God % 
Say not, they are for others, and not for you. 
" We do not fear to break open a letter when 
we find our name in the superscription, direct- 
ing it to us. Thus we should read the prom- 
ises as ours ; they are the kind epistles sent 
from heaven to animate us to bear up under 
every difficulty, and to go forward in the good 
way. Pray for faith, therefore, that you may 
be able to decipher them, and extract the sweet- 
ness contained in them. It is the business of 
faith to unfold and examine their contents, to 
appreciate their excellency, to taste their sweet* 
ness, and apply them to use. Let it be no ob- 
jection that these promises are not fulfilled im- 
mediately. They were not designed to be ac- 
complished as soon as given, or as soon as faith 
receives them. They are like bonds, which 
would be of no utility if the money were paid ; 
but the security given is as valid, and the bless- 
ing promised, as certain to be bestowed in 
God's time, as if you already were in possess- 
ion of it. Jesus Christ himself now waits in 
heaven for the final accomplishment of the 
promise for the ingathering of his people. His 
prayers, offered up eighteen hundred years 

H 



170 YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S 

ago for his church, are still unanswered. Learn, 
then, to live upon the promises ; plead them in 
prayer, wait patiently for their fulfillment, and 
you shall find that u God is not a man, that he 
should lie, nor the son of a man, that he should 
repent ; that all the promises in Christ are yea, 
and in him amen, unto the glory of God ; and 
that his covenant he will not break, nor alter 
the thing that is gone out of his lips." 

Consider, farther, for your encouragement, 
the many pleasing examples of the triumph of 
grace, in those who were either subject to the 
greatest depression, or surrounded with the 
most powerful opposition 5 and then ask, "Who 
ever perished being innocent, or where were 
the righteous cut off?" The providence seems, 
sometimes, however, to go before the promise, 
especially when it leaves a man to poverty, 
sickness, distress, unbelief and opposition ; but 
if we only wait a little, we shall see the prom- 
ise come up to his assistance, and while one 
says, " We are troubled on every side," the 
other answers, " Yet not distressed. Though 
perplexed, yet not in despair ; persecuted, but 
not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." 
Job said, indeed, that his eye should no more 
see good ; yet the Lord turned his captivity, 
and he died in peace. Jacob exclaimed that 
all things were against him ; yet he lived to 
see the goodness of God in th^e land of the liv- 
ing. Joseph was tempted and tried, and tossed 
up and down on the waves of trouble ; yet 
God was with him, and he rose superior to all. 



ENCOURAGEMENT. 171 

David said, he should one day fall by the hand 
of Saul , yet he could bear a noble testimony 
at last, and died affirming that God had made 
an everlasting covenant with him, ordered in 
all things, and sure. Hezekiah said, " I reck- 
oned till morning, that as a lion so will he 
break all my bones ; from day even to night 
wilt thou make an end of me." Yet how was 
his tone changed ! " Thou hast in love to my 
soul delivered it from the pit of corruption ; for 
thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." 
How much better was God to all these men 
than their fears ! He turned their darkness into 
light ; their sorrow into joy. You are in the 
same hands, and may indulge the pleasing ex- 
pectation, that however great the present dis- 
couragements, he will hear your prayers, sup- 
port you in trouble, and deliver you from all 
those dangers which now threaten the destruc- 
tion of your hope and comfort. 

But you are still ready to object, and say you 
want greater evidence of a ' gracious change 
than what you can find in yourself. Perhaps 
you are looking for some great degree of joy, 
some transport of pleasure, some state of mind 
in which you will not find the least wandering 
thought or corruption stirring. And because 
you cannot find these, you am ready to imag- 
ine that you are not a Christian. But here 
you are increasing your own distress without 
cause. What Christian is there that can boast 
of ecstatic joys ; that can assure us he is sub- 



172 



YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S 



ject to no changes ; that has no cold, indiffer- 
ent, vain, and wandering thoughts ; that has 
never to lament over the sad remains of deprav- 
ity in his nature % Some Christians, it is true, 
are far superior to others, as to the extent of 
their knowledge, the fervor of their love, the 
spirituality of their minds, and the greatness of 
their joys ; but none of them arrive to such an 
experience, advance to such a height, as to be 
beyond the feelings of depravity. A Job, an 
Isaiah, a David, a Paul, high as their attain- 
ments were, still lamented the remains of cor- 
ruption. A sense of your imperfection, there- 
fore, must not so operate as to cause you to 
conclude you are in a state of nature. Com- 
pare your present with your former state, and 
ask, whether there be not at least some evi- 
dences of a new heart and a new spirit. I 
know professors may go to great lengths in de- 
ceiving themselves ; but is it not your most 
ardent desire that you may not be deceived 1 
Have 3 7 ou not a portion of light that you once 
had not 1 Do you not feel such a sacred regard 
to God and divine things as you once did not ? 
Are not the people, whom you once despised, 
the very characters whom, above all others, 
you most delight in % Can you now willingly 
keep away, and slight the ordinances as you 
once did % Is not the Bible, which you neglect- 
ed and disesteemed, now more to you than your 
necessary food % Are not sin and self, which 
were once your delight and confidence, now 
the great sources of all your trouble, and the 



ENCOURAGEMENT, 



173 



objects of your greatest hatred ? Is not your 
life, which was once devoted to the world and 
its vanities, now given up to God ? and is it 
not your constant prayer that you may ever 
avoid what he has prohibited, follow that which 
he has commanded, and make it your main 
end to serve him, and promote his glory in the 
happiness of your fellow-creatures ? Then sure- 
ly you may conclude that, weak and unworthy 
as you are, you are his. Could novelty, could 
education, could interest, could self-will, could 
the enemy of souls, could any human being, 
produce such sentiments and such feelings as 
these ? No. It is the finger of God. It is his 
grace, that has thus produced desires which he 
alone can satisfy. It is his power that has re- 
moved prejudices which no inferior influence 
could effect. 

I would not, however, encourage you, with- 
out at the same time exhorting you to seek for 
a greater degree of faith. I would not have 
you satisfied with just being able to make out 
that you are a Christian. When in a comfort- 
able frame, perhaps you may be able to ascer- 
tain this ; but when darkness overwhelms you, 
then you begin to doubt. Endeavor to live less 
on your frames, and labor after an increase of 
that holy assurance which shall produce peace 
in the soul under every storm. " Weak faith, 
(as one observes,) will as surely land the Chris- 
tian in heaven, as strong faith ; for it is impos- 
sible that the least degree of true grace should 
perish, being all incorruptible seed. But the 



174 



YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S 



weak, doubting Christian is not like to have so 
pleasant a voyage thither, as another with 
strong faith. Though all in the ship come safe 
to shore, yet he that is all the way sea-sick 
hath not so comfortable a voyage as he that is 
strong and healthful."* Labor, therefore, to 
obtain an increase of this grace of faith ; for it 
is this that is the source of comfort, that hon- 
ors God, that softens the rugged path, that 
conquers the world, and enables us to triumph 
in Christ, and to see our interest clear in his 
love. 

Finally, for your encouragement, consider 
the prospect that is before you. How unlike 
every thing of a worldly nature, which ends in 
vanity and vexation of spirit ! We take a vast 
deal of trouble to ascend the mount of worldly 
good ; but, alas ! when we arrive at the sum- 
mit, it is all barren, and bleak, and cold ; but 
here the higher we go, the more enchanting 
the prospects, the more satisfying the objects 
we discover, and the more interesting and im- 
portant the situation. Nothing is more natu- 
ral than for the mind to be looking forward ; 
and whether the objects be real or illusive, it is 
difficult to restrain the operations of hope, and 
to curb the imagination from painting some 
good which we expect in futurity to enjoy. — 
But here the Christian has the advantage. He 
may look forward with infinite satisfaction, and 
anticipate the possession of every necessary 

* Gurnall. 



ENCOURAGEMENT. 



good. Reflect, therefore, my dear reader, on 
this inestimable privilege. Adopted into the 
family of heaven, you are an heir of God, and 
a joint heir with Christ. What greater thing 
can be said of a Christian than this ; for what 
may you not expect ? The idea is grand be- 
yond description. An heir of God ! Who can 
conceive, who can describe the immense riches 
of the divine nature % who can possibly dive 
into the depths of his grace, or reach the heights 
of his love ? Who can form the least idea of his 
blessedness and glory ? A Being ever the same 
in all the excellencies of his perfections ; in all 
the fulness of his Godhead. No communica- 
tions impoverish him; he is still the overflow- 
ing Fountain of all good. Drop the earth, 
therefore, for a moment, and endeavor to enter 
into this pleasant thought : " Why should I be 
discouraged at the little trifles of the present 
scene ? I am an heir of this Great Being, the 
Sovereign Lord of all worlds. He is my father 
and my friend, my present heritage and my 
everlasting portion. It is not felicity, it is not 
the saints, it is not heaven merely, that I am to 
possess ; but God himself. Amazing thought ! 
transporting idea ! Whatever God is, whatev- 
er God has, his divinity excepted ; whatever 
he can do, whatever he has promised ; all are 
mine, through Jesus the Mediator. let me 
die, then, to the world, and lose myself in him. 
Let no earthly scene, henceforth, allure me ; 
let no worldly care or vexatious trial depress 
my spirits ; for the Creator of heaven and 



176 YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S, &c 

earth is mine, my God, my glory forever."- — 
Thus you may meditate and rejoice, in the 
bright hope of enjoyments which eye hath not 
seen, ear heard, nor have entered into the heart 
of man to conceive. 

But what will add still to your joys, and af- 
ford you encouragement under all the passing 
scenes of the present life, is the certain and sure 
hope of immortality. Here the fairest flower 
fades ; the finest prospects are soon beclouded ; 
the tenderest ties are dissolved ; the strongest 
frame decays ; the most extensive inheritance 
must be relinquished ; the finest intellects grow 
dull ; and the greatest temporal happiness of 
mortals terminate in sorrow and the grave. — 
But behold eternity written upon the pleas- 
ures, the exercises, the society, of the celestial 
world. Come, Christian, elevate your mind. 
Surely, the thought of this is enough to out- 
weigh every suffering of the present state. — 
Here, then, fix your thoughts, and sing as you 
pass along, 

" Now to the shining realms above 
I stretch my hands and glance my eyes ; 
O for the pinions of a dove, 
To bear me to the upper skies! 

There, from the bosom of my God, 
Oceans of endless pleasure roll ; 
There would I fix my last abode, 
And drain the sorrows of my soul." 



CONCLUSION. 



Thus I have endeavored to suggest a few 
directions and cautions, and to propose some 
suitable encouragement to the sincere inquirer 
after divine truth. But should it fall into the 
hands of any, who are yet careless and uncon- 
cerned, let me entreat them seriously to consider 
the importance and necessity of real religion. 
It is easy to ridicule, and common to make 
apologies for living without it. But remember 
you must shortly die. You may die suddenly; 
you may in a moment be bereft of the use of 
your faculties. A tile falling from the house, 
a stone in the street, a little cold air penetrating 
through an opening pore, a fire in your dwel- 
ling, a sudden fall, may be commissioned to 
take away your life in a very short time. But 
supposing you were to live an hundred year?, 
how irrational, how ungrateful, how insensible, 
to pass away your time as if you had no soul 
to be saved ; as if there were no God to be 
served, no hell to shun, no heaven to obtain. — 
Have you never thought that there is a God 
before whom you must shortly stand, and to 
whom you must give an account ? Do you 



178 



CONCLUSION. 



imagine that truth and error, righteousness and 
unrighteousness, ignorance and knowledge, 
reverence and blasphemy, are the same to him? 
and that no distinctions are to be made between 
right and wrong; between him that serveth 
God and him that serveth him not ? Be not 
deceived ; God is not to be mocked : for what- 
soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 
The wicked shall not stand in his sight, for 
with such he is angry every day. But you 
may be ready to acknowledge your belief in a 
God, and even in his Son Jesus Christ, as the 
Saviour ; but think it unnecessary, till the day 
of sickness or the time of old age arrive, to 
commence a life of devotedness to him. But 
do you not know that the older you grow in 
sin, the more hardened you are likely to be in 
it ? and is it not a most melancholy fact, that 
among all the conversions recorded in scripture, 
there is not one of a sinner who professedly 
delayed his repentance? O consider, then, 
what a fatal delusion this is, and how likely 
you are, by thus procrastinating, to drop into 
the grave with all the guilt and curse of sin 
lying heavy upon you. You do not think 
neither what inconsistency and ingratitude 
mark your conduct. After you have spent 
your youth, the best of your time, the flower of 
your talents, the days of health, and the sea- 
sons of activity and usefulness, in the service 
of the world and of sin ; then, when you can 
pursue them no longer, when necessity drags 
you from them, when you cannot taste the joys 



CONCLUSION. 



179 



of folly as you have done ; then, when decrep- 
itude and old age steal upon you, and the days 
arrive in which you have no pleasure in them; 
then God, your almighty protector and best 
friend, may have your services. And what, 
alas ! are these ? What are the services of a 
poor wretched old sinner, whose body and 
health have been worn out in the work and 
drudgery of Satan ; whose faculties have been 
decayed in the slavery of the world ; whose 
vigor and life, whose strength and talents, have 
all been spent in the toils of vanity and human 
concerns ? O miserable man ! Is this thy 
kindness to thy Friend ? Is this reason ? Is 
this gratitude ? Is this obedience ? O pray 
that the thought of thy heart may be forgiven 
thee ; that thou mayest no longer stand at a 
distance from Him, who alone can make thee 
happy, in this world and that which is to come. 
No longer trifle, therefore, with thine immor- 
tal part. Hasten to that fountain which is 
open for sin and uncleanness. Look up to the 
God of grace to give thee that repentance 
which neecleth not to be repented of. Behold 
his word waits to instruct thee, his house to 
receive thee, his people to give thee the right 
hand of fellowship. Behold the God of grace 
willing to pardon, the Saviour of sinners look- 
ing with pit} 7 , the spirit of all truth ready to 
guide thee in the way thou shouldst go. Be- 
hold the innumerable monitors rising up, and 
calling thee. The voice of truth, of conscience, 
of example, of creation, of providence, of mercy, 



180 



CONCLUSION. 



of affliction, and of the gospel, all saying, 
Come, for all things are now ready. O God, 
may their voice be heard, prejudice be removed, 
sin pardoned, the heart changed, and grace 
triumph in the conversion of sinners to thyself! 
Amen. 



, 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



022 168 910 



